hypotonic
Meaningunder-strained
Common meaning: having lower concentration or tension than normal
- hypounder, below normal
- tona stretching; pitch of soundLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 812 · scan
- icadjective ending: relating to
‘under, below normal’ + ‘a stretching’ → hypotonic
Journey through time
- Greekτόνος‘a stretching’
- Englishhypotonic‘having lower concentration or tension than normal’ · today
hypo- also in: hypocrisyhypocritehypodermichypothesishypothermia
ton also in: baritonemonotonemonotonousmonotonously
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: not available. Respelling: generated.
- US IPA: not available. Respelling: generated.
Origin: Built on Greek τόνος ‘a stretching; pitch of sound’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry τόνος, p. 812 · dictionary scan
Roots
- τόνος Greek “a stretching; pitch of sound”
Related words
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