baritone

Where does the word "baritone" come from? It comes from Greek barytonos, passing through Italian before entering English (1730s).

Baritone’s story begins in Greek: barytonos meant “deep-sounding.” Literally deep-sounding, from barys (heavy) and tonos (tone). By 1500s, the word had taken hold in Italian as baritono. Greek 'barys', heavy, plus 'tonos', tone. It reached English by 1730s as baritone. Settled as the English word for the vocal range. Today, baritone means a male singing voice between tenor and bass.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient barytonos "deep-sounding", literally deep-sounding, from barys (heavy) and tonos (tone).
2. Stage 2 · Italian · 1500s baritono "a male voice between tenor and bass", Greek 'barys', heavy, plus 'tonos', tone.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1730s baritone "a male singing voice between tenor and bass", settled as the English word for the vocal range.