different between croon vs intone

English

Etymology

From Middle Dutch kronen (“to groan, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *kre-, from Proto-Indo-European *gerH- (“to cry hoarsely”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?u?n/
• Rhymes: -u?n

Verb

croon (third-person singular simple present croons, present participle crooning, simple past and past participle crooned)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To hum or sing softly or in a sentimental manner.

   • hearing such stanzas crooned in her praise

2. (transitive, intransitive) To say softly or gently
   • 2020, Sydney Ember, Sanders drives himself to the polls., New York Times:

     "Nice seeing you both," a woman at the check-in said. "Hey, I love you," another crooned.

3. (transitive) To soothe by singing softly.

   • The fragment of the childish hymn with which he sung and crooned himself asleep.

4. (Scotland) To make a continuous hollow moan, as cattle do when in pain.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Jamieson to this entry?)

Derived terms

• crooner

Translations

Noun

croon (plural croons)

1. A soft or sentimental hum or song.

Translations

Anagrams

• Conor, Norco, corno, r'coon

English

Etymology

From Old French entoner, from Medieval Latin intonare

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?n?to?n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n?t??n/
• Rhymes: -??n

Verb

intone (third-person singular simple present intones, present participle intoning, simple past and past participle intoned)

1. (transitive) To give tone or variety of tone to; to vocalize.
2. (transitive) To utter with a musical or prolonged note or tone; to speak or recite with singing voice; to chant.

   • But when the moon rose and the breeze awakened, and the sedges stirred, and the cat’s-paws raced across the moonlit ponds, and the far surf off Wonder Head intoned the hymn of the four winds, the trinity, earth and sky and water, became one thunderous symphony—a harmony of sound and colour silvered to a monochrome by the moon.

3. (intransitive) To utter a tone; utter a protracted sound.

Derived terms

References

• intone in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• intone in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.