Intoners

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. People who chant or recite prayers, passages or responses in a drawn-out monotone ; sings or speaks aloud in a level, resonant voice without much variation in pitch
2. Those who recite or sing words in a low, unvarying chant ; utter something in a slow, level tone, often in a ritual or liturgical setting
3. Performers who chant in a single steady pitch during a service ; deliver speech or song in a sustained, monotonous voice, especially in worship

Etymology: "Intoners" is the plural of "intoner," a person who chants or recites in a monotone, typically in a religious service. The noun is simply "intone" with the agent suffix "-er" attached, so the interesting history lies in the verb and in the suffix's own journey. The suffix "-er" comes through a long chain. It descends from a Latin suffix "-arius," which denoted a person connected with a trade or function, and it reached English by two routes: through Old English "-ere" and through Old French "-ier," the latter borrowed from the Latin form. Over centuries the two merged into the single English ending we use today, which is why so many English agent nouns, from "baker" to "teacher," share one simple tail. Here the suffix is attached to "intone," a verb built on Latin "intonare," meaning to thunder or sound forth, which gave English a word for reciting with a fixed, unvarying pitch.

Synonyms: chanter, cantor, precentor