ton

ton

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Tongan.

Variant of tun (“cask”), influenced by Old French tonne (“ton”).

• IPA^(key): /tʌn/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): /tʊn/
• Rhymes: -ʌn

ton (plural tons)

1. Any of various units of mass, originally notionally equal to the contents of a tun, particularly:
   2. The short ton of 2000 pounds (about 907 kg), 20 hundredweights of 100 pounds avoirdupois each.
   4. The long ton of 2240 pounds (about 1016 kg), 20 hundredweights of 112 pounds avoirdupois each.
   6. The metric ton of 1000 kilograms, 10 quintals of 100 kilograms each.

      Synonyms: tonne, metric ton, megagram

2. Any of various units of volume, originally notionally equal to the contents of a tun, particularly:
   1. The measurement ton of (US) 40 or (UK) 42 cubic feet (about 1.1 or 1.2 m³).
   2. The register ton of 100 cubic feet (about 2.83 m³).
3. (figuratively) Any large, excessive, or overwhelming amount of anything.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:lot

   I’ve got a ton of work to do.

   I've got tons of work to do.

4. (HVAC) A unit of thermal power equal to 12,000 BTU/h (about 3.5 kW), approximating the idealized rate of cooling provided by uniform isothermal melting of 1 short ton of ice per day at 0°C.
5. (colloquial, chiefly UK) Synonym of hundred, particularly
   1. 100 pounds sterling.
   2. (darts, snooker, etc.) 100 points.

      Synonym: tonne

   3. (cricket) 100 runs.

      Synonym: century

   4. A speed of 100 mph.
      • 1970, Mungo Jerry, “In The Summertime”, in In The Summertime:

        Speed along the lane / Do a ton or a ton and twenty-five

      • 2008, Damon Beesley, Iain Morris, “Caravan Club”, in The Inbetweeners, Series 1, Episode 5, E4:

        Neil: How fast can this thing go then, do you reckon?
        Simon: Well, it's the special edition, so I reckon it could probably top a ton.
        Neil: Bollocks!

      • 2021 October 6, Greg Morse, “A need for speed and the drive for 125”, in RAIL, number 941, page 50:

        The HSDT team, however, had some work to do, although by the end of 1972 the power car interior had been adjusted and BR had agreed to 'double-manning' with extra pay when speeds topped the ton.

• tonelada

• → Tokelauan: tone, tane

Borrowed from French ton (“manner”), from Latin tonus. Doublet of tone, tune, and tonus.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tɔ̃/, /tɒn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

ton (uncountable)

1. Fashion, the current style, the vogue.
   • 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter IX, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 191:

     A clergyman cannot be high in state or fashion. He must not head mobs, or set the ton in dress.

   • 1857–1859, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1858–1859, →OCLC:

     If our people of ton are selfish, at any rate they show they are selfish.

2. Fashionable society; those in style.
   • 1790, Amelia Opie, chapter 13, in Dangers of Coquetry, volume I:

     [S]he thought herself incapable of being flattered by the attentions of a man she despised, because he was the reigning idol of the ton […] .

   • 1823 December 17, [Lord Byron], Don Juan. Cantos XII.—XIII.—and XIV., London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John Hunt, […], →OCLC, canto XIII, (please specify the stanza number):

     The party might consist of thirty three Of highest caste—the Brahmins of the ton.

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 30, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849, →OCLC:

     Pen was somewhat older than many of his fellow-students, and there was that about his style and appearance, which, as we have said, was rather haughty and impertinent, that stamped him as a man of ton—very unlike those pale students who were talking law to one another, and those ferocious dandies, in rowing shirts and astonishing pins and waistcoats, who represented the idle part of the little community.

• tonish

• bon ton
• haut ton

ton (plural tons)

1. Synonym of tunny, particularly the common tunny or horse mackerel.

• pros ton kairon (etymologically unrelated)

• Not., Ont, not., NTO, TNO, Not, NOT, not, Ont., ONT, on't

From French thon.

ton

1. tuna

Inherited from Old Catalan ton, from Vulgar Latin *tum, reduced form of Latin tuum, from Proto-Italic *towos. Compare Occitan and French ton.

In unstressed position in Vulgar Latin tuum, tuam etc. were monosyllabic and regularly became ton, ta etc. in Catalan. When stressed they were disyllabic and became teu, tua > teua etc.

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /tun/ (always unstressed)
• (Valencia) IPA^(key): /ton/ (always unstressed)

ton m (feminine ta, masculine plural tos, feminine plural tes)

1. your (singular)

• The use of ton and the other possessive determiners is mostly archaic in the majority of dialects, with articulated possessive pronouns (e.g. el meu) mostly being used in their stead. However, mon, ton, and son are still widely used before certain nouns referring to family members and some affective nouns, such as amic, casa, and vida. Which nouns actually find use with the possessive determiners depends greatly on the locale.

The standard masculine plural form is tos, but tons can be found in some dialects.

• teu

• “ton” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈton]

ton

1. inflection of tondre:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

ton

1. torch

ton (accusative [please provide], plural [please provide])

1. fur coat

• şontuq : short fur

From English ton, variant of tun (“cask”).

• IPA^(key): /tʌn/
• Rhymes: -ʌn

ton c or n (singular definite tonnet or tonnen, plural indefinite ton or tons, abbreviation t)

1. tonne, metric ton (unit of weight, equivalent to 1000 kilograms)

• kilo, kilogram, kg

From Middle Dutch tonne, Old Dutch tunna, from Medieval Latin tunna.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /tɔn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ton
• Rhymes: -ɔn

ton f (plural tonnen, diminutive tonnetje n)

1. barrel
2. ton (1000 kilograms)
3. 100,000 of some monetary unit, particularly guilders

   Dat zou zeker een ton kosten.

   Dat zou zeker een ton euro kosten.

   140.000 euro is bijna drie ton gulden

4. a large amount

   Hij leende tonnen met geld. - He borrowed large amounts of money.

• karnton
• regenton
• tonnage
• waterton

• Afrikaans: ton
• Negerhollands: ton, tono
• Petjo: tong
• → Caribbean Javanese: thong
• → Indonesian: ton

ton

1. (colloquial) genitive singular of toi
2. (colloquial) accusative singular of toi

• -nto

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *tum. Doublet of tin (possessive pronoun).

ton (feminine ta, masculine plural tos or tes, feminine plural tes) (ORB, broad)

1. your (second-personal singular possessor)

• ton in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• ton in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

• IPA^(key): /tɔ̃/, (before a vowel) /tɔ̃.n‿/, /tɔ.n‿/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /tõ/, (before a vowel) /tõ.n‿/, /tɔ.n‿/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: thon

Inherited from Old French ton, tos, from Latin tuus.

ton m (feminine ta, plural tes)

1. (possessive) your

   Tu as pensé à prendre ton livre ?

   Did you remember to bring your book?

   Ton écriture est jolie.

   Your writing is pretty.

   J'aime beaucoup ton manteau.

   I really like your coat.

Ton is used before all singular nouns beginning with a vowel or a mute H, even those that are feminine. However, ta is used with singular feminine nouns beginning with an aspirated H.

• tondit

Borrowed from Latin tonus. Doublet of tonus, a later borrowing.

ton m (plural tons)

1. tone (sound of a particular frequency)
2. (music) tone (interval)

   Il y a un ton entre do et ré

   Doh and ray are separated by one tone.

3. tone (manner of speaking)

   Je n'aime pas le ton sur lequel tu me parles!

   I don’t like your tone! (I don’t like the way you are talking to me!)

4. tone, shade (of colour)

   Différents tons de rouge.

   Several shades of red.

• → Turkish: ton

• “ton”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• ont

From Latin tonus, from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos). Compare Italian tuono, Romansch tun, tung, Dalmatian tun, Romanian tun.

ton m (plural tons)

1. thunder

• tonâ

From Latin thunnus, from Ancient Greek θύννος (thúnnos). Compare Italian tonno.

ton m (plural tons)

1. tuna

Ultimately borrowed from Latin tonus. Compare French ton, Italian tono.

ton m (plural tons)

1. tone

• (Pulaar) to

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

ton

1. (Pular) there, over there

   Hammadi Sammba ko leydi Funnaange iwi. Wolarɓe Labe ɓen kadi ko ton iwi.

   Hammadi Samba came from a region situated in the East. The Wolarɓe of Labe also came from over there.

• Used anaphorically

• Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.

From French thon.

• IPA^(key): /tɔ̃/

ton

1. tuna

Borrowed from English ton.

• IPA^(key): /tón/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [táŋ]

tôn m

1. ton (unit of weight)

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈton/ [ˈt̪on]
• Rhymes: -on
• Syllabification: ton

From Dutch ton, from Middle Dutch tonne, from Old French [Term?], from Latin tunna, tonna, itself from a Celtic word cognate to Irish tonn (“skin”).

ton (plural ton-ton)

1. ton:
   1. tonne, metric ton: a unit of weight (mass) equal to 1000 kilograms
   2. register ton, a unit of a ship's capacity equal to 100 cubic feet or 2.83 m³
   3. long ton, weight ton: the avoirdupois or Imperial ton of 2,240 pounds (1,016.0469 kg)
   4. displacement ton
2. (colloquial) a thousand rupiah

• tan (Standard Malay)

From Dutch toon, from Middle Dutch toon, ultimately from Latin tonus.

ton (plural ton-ton)

1. alternative form of tona (“tone”)

• “ton” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

ton m (genitive singular toin, nominative plural toin)

1. (biology, literature, music) tone

Derived from English turn.

ton

1. to turn
   • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, Luuk 23:28:

     Jiizas ton roun an se tu dem […]

     Jesus turning unto them said […]

• ton at majstro.com

ton

1. Rōmaji transcription of とん

From Old English tān; equivalent to to +‎ -en (plural suffix).

ton

1. plural of to (“toe”)

• IPA^(key): /toːn/

tōn

1. inflection of tōh:
   1. weak accusative masculine/feminine singular
   2. weak genitive/dative/instrumental masculine/feminine/neuter singular
   3. weak nominative/accusative masculine/feminine/neuter plural

• toun (Anglo-Norman)
• tun (Anglo-Norman)

From Latin tuus, tuum.

• IPA^(key): /tun/
• Rhymes: -on

ton m (feminine ta, plural tes)

1. your (second-person singular possessive)

• French: ton

Unknown. Cognate of Indonesian tonton.

• IPA^(key): /ton/
• Rhymes: -ton

ton

1. to see
2. to look

• ⇒ Javanese: ꦠꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦠꦺꦴꦤ꧀ (tonton)
  • → Malay: tonton
    • Indonesian: tonton

• "ton" in P.J. Zoetmulder with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, Old Javanese-English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1982.

From Latin thunnus.

ton m (oblique plural tons, nominative singular tons, nominative plural ton)

1. tuna (fish)

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “thynnus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 13: T–Ti, page 318

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɔn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔn
• Syllabification: ton

Learned borrowing from Latin tonus, from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos), from Proto-Hellenic *tónos, from Proto-Indo-European *tónos, from *ten-.

ton m inan (related adjective tonowy)

1. (linguistics, music) tone

   Synonyms: barwa, brzmienie, zabarwienie

Borrowed from German Ton.

ton m inan (related adjective tonowy)

1. white clay used for painting walls (Is there an English equivalent to this definition?)

   Hypernym: glina

   • 1948, Tadeusz Borowski, “Pożegnanie z Marią”, in Pożegnanie z Marią: Opowiadania‎^[2], Warszawa: Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza "Wiedza", page 21:

     [...] firma budowlana zaś sprzedawała, tak chłopom jak inżynierom, mokry ton, skamieniały cement, mieszała wapno z wodą, a lepik z piaskiem,[...]

     ... whereas the construction company sold, to farmers as well as to engineers, wet clay and hardened cement, mixed lime with water and cement with sand...

• ton in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• ton in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from French thon.

ton m (plural toni)

1. tuna

Borrowed from French ton, from Latin tonus. Doublet of tun.

ton n (plural tonuri)

1. tone

• tonal

• IPA^(key): /tôːn/

tȏn m inan (Cyrillic spelling то̑н)

1. tone

• “ton”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

From Proto-Samic *tonë.

ton

1. you (singular)

• Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎^[3], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

• IPA^(key): /ˈton/ [ˈt̪õn]
• Rhymes: -on
• Syllabification: ton

ton m (uncountable)

1. clipping of tono

• “ton”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Borrowed from English ton. First attested in 1795.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɔn/
• Rhymes: -ɔn

ton n

1. tonne, metric ton (one thousand kilograms)

   En bil väger ofta mellan ett och två ton

   A car often weighs between one and two tonnes [1000–2000 kilograms]

From Latin tonus.

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈtuːn/
• Rhymes: -uːn

ton c

1. a tone (sound of a particular frequency)
2. (music) tone (interval)
3. tone (manner of speaking (or communicating more generally))

   Han sa det med en arg ton

   He said it with an angry tone

   att hålla god ton

   to avoid personal attacks and the like

   (literally, “to keep good tone [idiomatic]”)

4. tone, shade (of color)

• ton in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• ton in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• ton in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• not, ont

From Proto-Samic *tonë.

ton

1. you (singular)

• Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎^[4], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

• IPA^(key): [ˈton]

ton

1. alternative form of toni (“flying fish”)

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

• IPA^(key): /ton/

Borrowed from French ton.

ton (definite accusative tonu, plural tonlar)

1. tone (all senses)

Borrowed from French tonne.

ton (definite accusative tonu, plural tonlar)

1. tonne, metric ton

Borrowed from French thon.

ton (definite accusative tonu, plural tonlar)

1. tuna

   Synonym: ton balığı

ton (nominative plural tons)

1. sound

• IPA^(key): /tɔn/
• Rhymes: -ɔn

From Middle Welsh tonn, from Proto-Brythonic *tonn, from Proto-Celtic *tundā.

ton f (plural tonnau)

1. wave, billow

Middle Welsh tonn, from Proto-Celtic *tondā (“surface”), from the o-grade of Proto-Indo-European *tend- ~ *temh₁- (“to cut”).

ton m (plural tonnau)

1. lea, unploughed land, turf
2. skin, rind, crust

   Synonyms: croen, crofen, crystyn, pil

• tondir
• tonni (“to cut turf; to peel”)
• marwdon (“dandruff”)

• D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “ton”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “ton”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

ton

1. Second person dual subject (medial position)

   you two

2. Second person plural subject (medial position)

   you (three or more)

• to'na'
• to'n'aawan