Wordwyrt

monotony

/məˈnɒtəni/muh-NAH-tuh-nee
/məˈnɑtəni/muh-NAH-tuh-nee

Meaningone tone

Common meaning: dull sameness

‘alone, single’ + ‘a stretching’ → monotony

Journey through time

  • mono — Greek μόνος “alone, single” (path traced)
  • ton — Greek τόνος “a stretching; pitch of sound” (path traced)

Parts join in Greek as μονοτονία.

  1. Greekμόνος + τόνος‘alone + tone’source
  2. Greekμονοτονία‘sameness of tone’source
  3. Englishmonotony‘dull sameness’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Greek μόνος ‘alone, single’ and Greek τόνος ‘a stretching’.

Roots

Related words

monarchmonochromemonogamymonographmonolithmonologuemonotonemonotonousmonotonouslybaritonehypotonic

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