overtonen.
/ˈəʊvətəʊn/, U.S. /ˈoʊvərˌtoʊn/ 1.
a. Acoustics and Music. An upper partial tone; a harmonic (harmonic n. 2a).
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > [noun] > note or tone > undertones, overtones, etc.
harmonic1772
undertone1832
subtone1838
by-tone1852
overtone1867
upper partial1873
overnote1917
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > thing heard > [noun] > sound > quality of sound > pitch > overtone
overtone1867
upper partial1873
1867 J. Tyndall Sound iii. 117 The Germans embrace all such sounds under the general term Obertöne. I think it will be an advantage if we, in England, adopt the term overtones as the equivalent.
1879 G. B. Prescott Speaking Telephone (new ed.) 7 Helmholtz succeeded in demonstrating that the different qualities of sounds depend altogether upon the number and intensity of the overtones which accompany the primary tones of those sounds.
1883 Amer. Naturalist 17 449 It is possible that what the bees hear are not the loud, low sounds, but the higher overtones at the verge of or beyond our range of hearing.
1941 G. Haydon Introd. Musicol. ii. 43 The prominence of the various overtones depends in part upon the place at which the string is struck or bowed.
1997 Times Higher Educ. Suppl. 12 Dec. 19/4 The Montagnana sounded a shade darker than the new cello, the older instrument displaying a slightly richer suite of lower overtones.
b. Physics. An analogous component of any non-acoustic oscillation, having a frequency that is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency.
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1881 A. Schuster in Proc. Royal Soc. 31 337 It would be a matter of the greatest importance if we could discover an empirical law connecting together the different periods of vibration in which we know one and the same molecule to be capable of swinging. According to the most simple supposition the vibrations might be harmonical overtones of one fundamental note.
1937 F. A. Jenkins & H. E. White Fund. Optics xii. 283 If the charged oscillator is bound by a force which does not obey Hooke's law,..it will be capable of re-radiating not only the impressed frequency, but also various combinations of this frequency with the fundamental and overtone frequencies of the oscillator.
1973 Physics Bull. July 421/2 The first overtone spectrum of HBr near 4·95 μm has been obtained in this way.
1991 E. A. V. Ebsworth et al. Struct. Methods Inorg. Chem. (ed. 2) (BNC) 222 This coupling between group modes of the same symmetry should not be confused with Fermi resonance between a fundamental and an overtone.
2. figurative. A subtle or elusive implication or association; a connotation. Frequently in plural. Cf. undertone n. 2.
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the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > implied meaning > [noun] > instance of
implicative1589
subintelligitur1612
subintelligence1631
undersong1631
deuteroscopy1646
implication1657
subauditur1702
undermeaning1841
implial1846
more than meets the eye (also ear)1853
under-sense1859
overtone1869
implicate1881
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > other aspects or elements > [noun] > meaning as paraphrased in prose > overtone
overtone1869
1869 Putnam's Mag. May 584/2 In all the entrancements of music, mystic overtones are heard, breathing sadly through each strain.
1883 Mind 8 37 The concrete proposition, when so far developed as to become a thesis for Proof, is always rich in overtones.
1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. I. ix. 258 Let us use the words psychic overtone, suffusion, or fringe, to designate the influence of a faint brain-process upon our thought.
1911 C. S. H. Brereton & F. Rothwell tr. H. L. Bergson Laughter ii. 96 There would be nothing amusing in the saying, ‘It serves you right, George Dandin’, were it not for the comic overtones that take up and re-echo it.
1965 Listener 25 Nov. 869/1 There are overtones of Aldous Huxley and Norman Douglas, and echoes of Firbank.
2002 Yorks. Post (Nexis) 6 July The Liverpool comic had been heckled by Mr Thomas after making a joke with racist overtones.
3. figurative. A scent or taste which overlies another.
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1959 J. Braine Vodi iv. 55 It was an off-licence, very cool and smelling both earthy and antiseptic, with overtones of stale beer and tobacco.
1989 A. Bonar Herbs (BNC) 51 The cucumber flavour of the leaves is similar to borage, but with a slightly nutty overtone.
1994 Bon Appétit July 23/2 Chenin blanc can produce some fine crisp wines with overtones of peach and apple.
Compounds
overtone chant n. = overtone singing n.
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1995 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 7 July 44 Khechog, a prodigal musician and singer, taught himself, among other things, to..sing the extraordinary Tibetan overtone chant.
2000 J. Schafer in J. Potter Cambr. Compan. Singing ii. 14 The techniques of overtone chant are considered by many Tibetan colleges to be part of the practice not of music, but of tantric Buddhism itself.
overtone chanting n. = overtone singing n.
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1983 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 21 June c15/3 This group of five singers has been known the last few years for its Mongolian- and Tibetan-inspired overtone chanting.
1991 Resurgence Jan. 59 Mongolian & Tibetan overtone chanting.
overtone singing n. a form of vocal music (traditional esp. in Mongolia, Tibet, and adjacent parts of central Asia) in which the production and varying of overtones above a fundamental note is a central feature; also called throat-singing.
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1980 Tran Quang Hai & D. Guillou in Mus. Voices Asia 162 Several terms exist in English such as split-tone singing, throat singing, and overtone singing.
2000 S. Broughton et al. World Music: Rough Guide II. i. 192/2 Overtone-singing, often called throat-singing, is an extraordinary vocal technique in which a single performer simultaneously produces two or three vocal lines by selectively amplifying harmonics.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
overtonev.
/ˌəʊvəˈtəʊn/, U.S. /ˌoʊvərˈtoʊn/ rare.† 1. transitive. To drown out (a sound) with a stronger tone. Obsolete.
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the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > loudness > make a loud sound or noise [verb (transitive)] > surpass in loudness or drown
outvoice1612
out-thunder1616
outnoise1639
deaf1640
deafen1823
thunder1845
overtone1862
1862 Macmillan's Mag. 323 A prayer, the general solemnity of which so overtones the discords from common belief which the expert ear may nevertheless detect in it.
2. transitive and intransitive. Photography. To tone (a photographic print) too much; to give too deep a tone to (a photographic print). rare.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > photographic processes > [verb (transitive)] > tone, etc.
overtone1868
tone1868
posterize1943
threshold1943
1868 M. C. Lea Man. Photogr. xiii. 219 This bath tones much like the preceding; gives brown, purple-black, or black tones, and by overtoning, blue.
1999 Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. (Nexis) 5 Feb. 8 q By purposely printing his imatographs very dark and overtoning each print, Spencer creates warm images with a foggy gleam.
3. transitive. To give an overtone or implication to.
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the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > implied meaning > imply [verb (transitive)]
imply1581
overtone1871
1871 G. Meredith in Cornhill Mag. Nov. 626 She threw a kindly-comical look, not overtoned, at the miniature ships on the mantelpiece, and the picture of Joseph leading Mary with her babe on the ass.
1997 Jeremy Taggs Along in alt.starfleet.rpg (Usenet newsgroup) 10 Mar. ‘There are only two kinds of people that I've seen who use this model,’ Stratos said, a sense of mystery overtoning his words.
1998 M. Gluck Superplonk 1999 71 Nice richness of texture overtoning some lovely citric hints.
Derivatives
ˌoverˈtoning n.
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1889 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 333 Overtoning is a common fault which gives a gray photograph, and causes it to lose its brilliancy.
1994 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 3 Mar. 11 If sometimes the style seems a spot too falsely naive the musical overtoning a touch too portentous, the humour, the company's inventiveness..override any reservations.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1867
v.1862