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Sound vs Tone - What's the difference?

sound | tone |

In intransitive terms the difference between sound and tone

is that sound is dive downwards, used of a whale while tone is to harmonize, especially in colour.

In transitive terms the difference between sound and tone

is that sound is to cause to produce a sound while tone is to utter with an affected tone.

As an adjective sound

is healthy.

As an adverb sound

is soundly.

As an interjection sound

is yes; used to show agreement or understanding, generally without much enthusiasm.

As a proper noun Sound

is the strait that separates Zealand (an island of Denmark) from Scania (part of Sweden); also sometimes called by the Danish name, Øresund.

As a pronoun tone is

the one (of two).

sound

English

Alternative forms

* soune (obsolete), sowne (obsolete)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) sound, sund, isund, . See (l).

Adjective

(er)
  • Healthy.
  • He was safe and sound .
    In horse management a sound horse is one with no health problems that might affect its suitability for its intended work.
  • *
  • Complete, solid, or secure.
  • Fred assured me the floorboards were sound .
  • * Chapman
  • The brasswork here, how rich it is in beams, / And how, besides, it makes the whole house sound .
  • (mathematics, logic) Having the property of soundness.
  • *
  • With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get
  • (British, slang) Good.
  • "How are you?" - "I'm sound ."
    That's a sound track you're playing.
  • (of sleep) Quiet]] and deep.
  • Her sleep was sound .
  • Heavy; laid on with force.
  • a sound beating
  • Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective.
  • a sound title to land
    Hypernyms
    * (in logic) valid
    Derived terms
    * safe and sound * sound as a bell * soundly

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Soundly.
  • * Spenser
  • So sound he slept that naught might him awake.

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (British, slang) Yes; used to show agreement or understanding, generally without much enthusiasm.
  • "I found my jacket." - "Sound ."

    Etymology 2

    * Noun: from (etyl) sownde, alteration of sowne, from (etyl) sun, soun, (etyl) son, from accusative of (etyl) sonus. * Verb: from (etyl) sownden, sounen, from (etyl) suner, (etyl) soner (modern sonner ), from (etyl) * The euphonic -d appears in the fifteenth century. (wikipedia sound)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A sensation perceived by the ear caused by the vibration of air or some other medium.
  • :
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:The warlike sound / Of trumpets loud and clarions.
  • A vibration capable of causing such sensations.
  • *
  • *:It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street.. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.
  • (lb) A distinctive style and sonority of a particular musician, orchestra etc
  • Noise without meaning; empty noise.
  • *(John Locke) (1632-1705)
  • *:Sense and not sound must be the principle.
  • Synonyms
    * See also
    Troponyms
    * noise * quiet * silence
    See also
    * audible

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To produce a sound.
  • When the horn sounds , take cover.
  • (copulative) To convey an impression by one's sound.
  • He sounded good when we last spoke.
    That story sounds like a pack of lies!
  • * Shakespeare
  • How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues!
  • To be conveyed in sound; to be spread or published; to convey intelligence by sound.
  • * Bible, 1 Thessalonians i. 8
  • From you sounded out the word of the Lord.
  • (legal) Often with "in"; to arise or to be recognizable as arising within a particular area of law.
  • * '>citation
  • To cause to produce a sound.
  • He sounds the instrument.
  • (phonetics) To pronounce a vowel or a consonant.
  • The "e" in "house" isn't sounded .
    Synonyms
    * (to make noise)echo, reecho, resonate * See also
    Derived terms
    * empty vessels make the most sound * infrasound * instantaneous sound pressure * missound * outsound * second sound * soundage * sound-alike * sound alphabet * sound and light/sound-and-light show * sound barrier * sound bite/soundbite * sound bow * sound box * sound camera * sound card * sounded * sound effect * sound energy * sound engineer * sound engineering * sounder * soundex * sound film * sound hole * sounding board * sound law * soundless * sound like * sound man/soundman * sound off * sound out * sound pollution * sound pressure * sound projection * soundproof/sound-proof * sound recording * sound reproduction * soundscape * sound spectrum * sound stage/soundstage * sound structure * sound system * sound track/soundtrack * sound truck * sound wave * speech sound * speed of sound * surround-sound/surround sound * third heart sound * third sound * ultrasound * unsound * voiced sound

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) sound, sund, from (etyl) . Related to (l).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (geography) A long narrow inlet, or a strait between the mainland and an island; also, a strait connecting two seas, or connecting a sea or lake with the ocean.
  • Puget Sound'''; Owen '''Sound
  • * Camden
  • The Sound of Denmark, where ships pay toll.
  • The air bladder of a fish.
  • Cod sounds are an esteemed article of food.
  • A cuttlefish.
  • (Ainsworth)

    Etymology 4

    (etyl) . More at

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • dive downwards, used of a whale.
  • The whale sounded and eight hundred feet of heavy line streaked out of the line tub before he ended his dive.
  • To ascertain, or try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe.
  • When I sounded him, he appeared to favor the proposed deal.
  • * Dryden
  • I was in jest, / And by that offer meant to sound your breast.
  • * Addison
  • I've sounded my Numidians man by man.
  • test; ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device.
  • Mariners on sailing ships would sound the depth of the water with a weighted rope.
  • (medicine) To examine with the instrument called a sound, or by auscultation or percussion.
  • to sound a patient, or the bladder or urethra

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A long, thin probe for body cavities or canals such as the urethra.
  • tone

    English

    (wikipedia tone)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) ton, from (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (music) A specific pitch.
  • (music) (in the diatonic scale ) An interval of a major second.
  • (music) (in a Gregorian chant ) A recitational melody.
  • The character of a sound, especially the timbre of an instrument or voice.
  • General character, mood, or trend.
  • Her rousing speech gave an upbeat tone to the rest of the evening.
  • (linguistics) The pitch of a word that distinguishes a difference in meaning, for example in Chinese.
  • (dated) A whining style of speaking; a kind of mournful or artificial strain of voice; an affected speaking with a measured rhythm and a regular rise and fall of the voice.
  • Children often read with a tone .
  • (literature) The manner in which speech or writing is expressed.
  • * W. C. Bryant
  • Their tone was dissatisfied, almost menacing.
  • (obsolete) State of mind; temper; mood.
  • * Bolingbroke
  • The strange situation I am in and the melancholy state of public affairs, from a philosophical tone or temper, to the drudgery of private and public business.
  • The shade or quality of a colour.
  • The favourable effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, or of colours.
  • This picture has tone .
  • The definition and firmness of a muscle or organ. see also: tonus
  • (biology) The state of a living body or of any of its organs or parts in which the functions are healthy and performed with due vigor.
  • (biology) Normal tension or responsiveness to stimuli.
  • Synonyms
    * (an interval of a major second ): whole tone
    Derived terms
    * dial tone * halftone * muscle tone * semitone * tonebar, tone bar * tone of voice

    Verb

    (ton)
  • to give a particular tone to
  • to change the colour of
  • to make (something) firmer
  • to harmonize, especially in colour
  • To utter with an affected tone.
  • Synonyms
    * (give a particular tone to) * (change the colour of) color/colour, dye, paint, tint * (make firmer) firm, firm up, tone up * (harmonize) harmonise/harmonize * (utter with an affected tone)
    Derived terms
    * toned * tone down * toner * tone up * tony, toney (affected tone)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) tone, ton, toon, from the incorrect division of ; see also (l).

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • The one (of two).
  • *, Bk.X, Ch.lxiij:
  • *:So wythin the thirde day, there cam to the cité thes two brethirne: the tone hyght Sir Helyus and the other hyght Helake
  • Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * Eton * note ----