intones

Intone is a verb with senses centered on speaking or singing a tone or melody. In common usage, to intone means to utter words or phrases with a particular pitch or musical quality, often in a solemn, chant-like, or ritual manner. The third-person singular present indicative is "intones," as in "the cantor intones prayers."

The word comes from Late Latin intonare, from in- "into" + tonare "to sound," itself from Latin tonare. The sense has long been tied to producing a deliberate or ceremonial pitch rather than casual speech.

In religious contexts, intoning is common in liturgy, where prayers or psalms are recited with a fixed melodic pattern or cadence. In secular speech or performance, to intone can describe speaking or singing in a ceremonial or measured way; in music, a singer may intone a note or a phrase to establish mood or harmony.

Intone differs from intonation, which describes the general pitch contour of spoken language, and from cantillation, a term used for traditional chant practice in Jewish and some Christian rites. While related, these terms emphasize different aspects of vocal pitch: intonation concerns speech patterns, cantillation focuses on ritual chant, and intone centers on deliberate, often ceremonial vocal delivery.

See also: intonation, cantillation, chant.