intonation
The rise and fall of the voice in speaking.
Other meanings
Emotive stress used to increase the power of delivery in speech.
A sound made by, or resembling that made by, a musical instrument.
Related words
- intonation unit
- just intonation
Word history
From Medieval Latin "intonatio".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “intonation” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.