- tonic
- ton•ic[[t]ˈtɒn ɪk[/t]] n.1) pha a medicine that invigorates or strengthens2) anything invigorating physically, mentally, or morally3) cootonic water4) mad the first degree of a musical scale; keynote5) dial. Chiefly Eastern New Eng. soda pop6) phn a tonic syllable or accent7) med pertaining to, maintaining, increasing, or restoring the tone or health of the body or an organ, as a medicine8) invigorating physically, mentally, or morally9) pat phla) pertaining to tension, as of the musclesb) marked by continued muscular tension:a tonic spasm[/ex]10) phn of or pertaining to tone or accent in speech11) phn pertaining to or being a tone language12) phn (of a syllable) bearing the principal stress or accent, usu. accompanied by a change in pitch13) mad pertaining to or based on the first tone of a musical scale:a tonic chord[/ex]•Etymology: 1640–50; < Gk tonikós pertaining to stretching or tones. See tone, -ic ton′i•cal•ly, adv.
From formal English to slang. 2014.