intonation

Noun

intonation (countable and uncountable, plural intonations)

1. The rise and fall of the voice in speaking.
2. Emotive stress used to increase the power of delivery in speech.
   • She well knew the power of intonation, and thought that, in the absence of the curled lip, the contemptuous twitch of the nose, and the supercilious toss of the head, her message might be acceptable for Louisa's sake,...1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 210
3. A sound made by, or resembling that made by, a musical instrument.
   • This additional cause of the intonation of thunder, together with the simile with which it is illustrated, is copied from our poet, both by Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii, 431, and Isidorus, Orig. xiii.1805, Titus Lucretius Carus, The nature of things: a didactic poem
   • As when sulphureous fires, within the caves
     Of earth long pent, with intonation loud
     Burst through the riven rocks, and far as eye
     Can reach their furious devastation spread,
     So sudden, so resistless was the force
     Of this blasphemer's bold appeal to arms.1808, Richard Cumberland, The Exodiad: A Poem, page 375
4. Singing or playing in good tune or otherwise.
   • Her intonation was false.
5. Reciting in a musical prolonged tone; intonating or singing of the opening phrase of a plain-chant, psalm, or canticle by a single voice, as of a priest.