What does tono in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word tono in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use tono in Spanish.

The word tono in Spanish means tone, pitch, tone, tone of voice, tone, sound, signal, tone, color, hue, tone, tenor, mood, in sync with, in harmony, say in a certain tone, by what says, say jokingly, in a tone of, fashionable, politely, nicely, of bad taste, of poor taste, out of place, uncalled-for comment, uncalled-for remark, out-of-place comment, adult, heat up, raise a note, warning tone, cautionary tone, skin tone, skin color, tone of voice, tono humano, muscle tone, pastel tone. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word tono

tone, pitch

nombre masculino (cualidad de los sonidos)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
El tono puede ser agudo o grave según su frecuencia.
The tone (or: pitch) can be high or low according to its frequency.

tone, tone of voice

nombre masculino (forma de hablar)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Cuando quiere que le deje jugar con el ordenador utiliza un tono muy suave.
ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. As a nurse, your tone (or: tone of voice) in speaking to patients should be calm and pleasant.

tone, sound, signal

nombre masculino (señal acústica)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Me gusta el tono de llamada de tu móvil.
I like the ring tone of your cell phone.

tone, color, hue

nombre masculino (grado de coloración)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Me gustaría pintar la pared en un tono fuerte para darle más presencia a la habitación.
I would like to paint the wall in a bright tone, to give the room more personality.

tone, tenor, mood

nombre masculino (talante en una conversación)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
El tono distendido de la discusión hizo que nos llegáramos a entender.
The relaxed tone of the conversation enabled us to arrive at an understanding.

in sync with

(en consonancia con)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Esta idea está a tono con su forma de pensar.

in harmony

(en armonía con)

Lleva los zapatos a tono con el bolso.

say in a certain tone

locución adverbial (a manera de)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Lo dijo a tono de conciliación, es su forma de pedir disculpas.

by what says

locución adverbial (por lo que)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
A tono de lo que está diciendo, debe ser un fascista de mucho cuidado.

say jokingly

locución adverbial (bromeando)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Lo dijo a tono de broma, no lo decía en serio.

in a tone of

locución adverbial (entonación)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

fashionable

locución adjetiva (distinguido, ilustre) (event, trend)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")

politely, nicely

locución adverbial (con educación)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Te lo he dicho de buen tono: no pretendía faltarte el respeto.
I told you politely: I didn't mean to disrespect you.

of bad taste, of poor taste

locución adjetiva (vulgar)

Ese vestido es de mal tono, no te lo pongas.

out of place

locución adjetiva (desafortunado, inadecuado)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
No hagas comentarios fuera de tono.

uncalled-for comment, uncalled-for remark

nombre femenino (coloquial (algo inoportuno)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Tu salida de tono echó a perder la fiesta.

out-of-place comment

nombre femenino (coloquial (fuera de contexto)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
No se salgan del tema porque están prohibidas las salidas de tono.

adult

locución adjetiva (de carácter erótico) (movie, TV)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Esa película no es para menores porque tiene escenas muy subidas de tono.
That film is not suitable for children because it has very adult scenes.

heat up

locución verbal (coloquial (algo: enardecerse) (figurative)

(phrasal verb, intransitive: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning and not taking direct object--for example, "make up" [=reconcile]: "After they fought, they made up.")
La charla subió de tono y terminó mal.
The conversation began to heat up and it didn't end well.

raise a note

locución verbal (música: tonalidad) (music)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Sube de tono la canción porque está baja para ti.

warning tone, cautionary tone

(estilo: dureza)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Pobre de quien falte a la junta porque el memorándum del jefe tiene un tono de advertencia.
ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. Although the speech was positive, it carried a warning (or: cautionary) tone.

skin tone, skin color

nombre masculino (color)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Tiene un tono de piel dorado precioso.
She's got a beautiful dark skin tone.

tone of voice

(grave o agudo)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Mariana tiene un tono de voz agudo.
Mariana has a sharp tone of voice.

tono humano

locución nominal masculina (obra musical profana) (music genre)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
El tono humano era común en el siglo XVIII.
The tono humano was popular in the 18th century.

muscle tone

locución nominal masculina (tensión de los músculos)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Pedro quiere aumentar su tono muscular.
Pedro wants to increase his muscle tone.

pastel tone

(color claro)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

Let's learn Spanish

So now that you know more about the meaning of tono in Spanish, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in Spanish.

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Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.