toneless en · ADJ
Etymology
Etymology tree English tone Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Middle English -les English -less English toneless From tone + -less.
Meanings
-
Lacking tone or expression.
And sure enough she had settled down at once, so that in less than two months it seemed to Stephen that Miss Puddleton must always have been at Morton, must always have been sitting at the large walnut table, must always have been saying in that dry, toneless voice with the Oxford accent: ‘You’ve forgotten something, Stephen,’ […]
1928, Radclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness, Garden City, NY: Blue Ribbon Books, Book 1, Chapter 7, Section 2, p. 71:The Cumshewa totem poles were dark and colourless, the wood toneless from pouring rain.
1941, Emily Carr, chapter 4, in Klee Wyck:
- Lacking vitality; listless; lifeless.
- Lacking tone or pitch, have the neutral tone.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most toneless | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more toneless | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (11)
fi sävytön (lacking tone or expression) · ru невырази́тельный (lacking tone or expression) · bg беззвучен (having no tone (in tonal languages)) · bg неизразителен (lacking tone or expression) · fi soinniton (lacking tone or expression) · ru вя́лый (lacking vitality; listless) · fi eloton (lacking vitality; listless) · bg глух (lacking tone or expression) · cmn 缺乏聲調的 /缺乏声调的 (having no tone (in tonal languages)) · cmn 單調的 /单调的 (lacking tone or expression) · fi tooniton (having no tone (in tonal languages))