English Explanatory Dictionary

monotone

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Having a single unvaried pitch.
  2. Of a function: that is always nonincreasing or nondecreasing on an interval.
  3. Synonym of monochrome.
noun
  1. A single unvaried tone of speech or a sound.
  2. A piece of writing in one strain throughout.
verb
  1. To speak in a monotone.

Pronunciation

/ˈmɒn.ə.təʊn/ En-uk-monotone.ogg /ˈmɑ.nə.toʊn/ En-us-monotone.ogg /ˈmɒn.ə.toʊn/ /ˈmɔn.ə.təʉn/ en-au-monotone.ogg /ˈmɒn.ə.tɐʉn/ [ˈmɔ̟n.ə.tɐʉn]

Word forms

monotone more monotone most monotone monotones monotoning monotoned

Etymology

From the post-Classical Latin monotonus (“unvarying in tone”) or its etymon the Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos, “steady”, “unwavering”); compare cognate adjectives, namely the French monotone, the German monoton, the Italian monotono, and the Spanish monótono, as well as the slightly earlier English noun monotony and adjective monotonical.

Synonyms

monotonic monochrome

Derived words

antimonotone monotone function monotoneity monotonize nonmonotone positone pseudomonotone monotone convergence theorem monotonic monotonous monotony
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on M Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary