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tönen. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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tönen in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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German
Etymology
From Middle High German dœnen, *tœnen, derived from tōn, whence modern Ton (“tone, sound”).
Pronunciation
Verb
tönen (weak, third-person singular present tönt, past tense tönte, past participle getönt, auxiliary haben)
- (intransitive) to give a loud and far-reaching sound
- Synonyms: dröhnen, hallen, schallen
Die Kirchglocken tönten durch die Gassen.- The church bells were sounding through the narrow streets.
- (intransitive, Switzerland, copulative) to sound; to give or have a sound
- Synonym: (the general word) klingen
- Diese beiden Wörter tönen ähnlich. ― These two words sound similar.
- (intransitive, informal) to boast; to brag (particularly about an intention to do something)
Vor dem Spiel hatte der Gegner getönt, er würde uns „vernichten“.- Before the game, the other team had bragged they would “annihilate” us.
- (transitive, of hair) to dye with a weak colouring that gives the hair a new tone rather than an entirely different colour; to tint
- Synonyms: färben, kolorieren
- Sie hatte ihre Haare mit Henna getönt. ― She had dyed her hair with henna.
Conjugation
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of
tönen (
weak, auxiliary
haben)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “tönen” in Duden online
- “tönen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache