atonic

From a- + tonic.

• IPA^(key): /eɪˈtɒnɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Rhymes: -ɒnɪk

atonic (comparative more atonic, superlative most atonic)

1. (of a sound or syllable) unstressed
2. (linguistics) not having tone (pitch)
   • 1984, John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy (nonfiction), University of Hawaii Press, page 45:

     Some syllables are distinguished by an absence of tone; they are said to be atonic or to have a neutral tone.

3. (pathology) Lacking muscle tone.
4. (medicine) Characterized by atony, or want of vital energy.

   an atonic disease

• atonal

atonic (plural atonics)

1. (phonetics, dated) A sound with lack of tone or vocality.

   Coordinate term: subtonic

• Catino, actino-, action, cation, cation-π

Borrowed from French atonique.

atonic m or n (feminine singular atonică, masculine plural atonici, feminine/neuter plural atonice)

1. atonic