Tumulus, tū′mū-lus, n. a mound of earth over a grave: a barrow:—pl. Tū′mūlī.—adjs. Tū′mūlar, -y, Tū′mūlous.—v.t. Tū′mūlate, to cover with a mound.—n. Tūmūlos′ity. [L.,—tumēre, to swell.]
Tun, tun, n. a large cask: an obsolete liquid measure of capacity—in old ale and beer measure, 216 gallons; in old wine measure, 252 gallons.—v.t. to store in a tun.—ns. Tun′-bell′y, a big pot-belly; Tun′-dish (Shak.), a wooden funnel; Tun′nage, a tax on imported wines; Tun′ning, the act of brewing, the amount brewed at one time. [A.S. tunne.]
Tuna, tū′na, n. a prickly pear, also its fruit.
Tundra, tōōn′dra, n. one of the level treeless plains of northern Russia, both in Europe and Asia. [Russ.]
Tundun, tun′dun, n. a bull-roarer.
Tune, tūn, n. a melodious succession of notes or chords in a particular key: the relation of notes and intervals to each other causing melody: state of giving the proper sound: harmony: a melody or air: frame of mind, temper.—v.t. to adjust the tones, as of a musical instrument: to play upon, celebrate in music: to give a certain character to.—adj. Tū′nable.—n. Tū′nableness.—adv. Tū′nably.—adj. Tune′ful, full of tune or harmony: melodious: musical.—adv. Tune′fully.—n. Tune′fulness.—adj. Tune′less, without tune or melody: silent.—ns. Tū′ner, one who tunes or adjusts the sounds of musical instruments: one who makes music, or sings: in organs, an adjustable flap for altering the pitch of the tone; Tū′ning, the art of bringing musical instruments into tune; Tū′ning-fork, a steel two-pronged instrument, designed when set in vibration to give a musical sound of a certain pitch; Tū′ning-hamm′er, a tuning-wrench with hammer attachment for regulating tension in stringed instruments.—Tune up, to begin to sing or play.—Change one's tune, Sing another tune, to alter one's attitude, or one's way of talking; In tune, harmonious; Out of tune, inharmonious; To the tune of, to the amount of. [A doublet of tone.]
Tungsten, tung′sten, n. a rare metal, chiefly derived from wolfram, which is a tungstate of iron and manganese, and likewise found in scheelite, which is a tungstate of lime.—n. Tung′state, a salt of tungstic acid.—adjs. Tungsten′ic; Tungstenif′erous; Tung′stic.—n. Tung′stite, native oxide of tungsten. [Sw.,—tung, heavy, sten, stone.]
Tungusic, tun-gōō′sik, adj. pertaining to the Tunguses, an ethnographic group of the Ural-Altaic family.—n. Tun′gus, one of this people or their language.—adj. Tungu′sian.
Tunic, tū′nik, n. a loose frock worn by females and boys: an ecclesiastical short-sleeved vestment, worn over the alb at mass by the sub-deacon, very similar to the dalmatic, but smaller: a military surcoat: the ordinary fatigue-coat of a private soldier, also the coat of an officer: (anat.) a membrane that covers some organ: (bot.) a covering, as of a seed.—n. Tunicā′ta, a class of remarkable animals, many of which are popularly known as Ascidians or sea-squirts—now regarded as occupying a lowly place among vertebrate or chordate animals.—adjs. Tū′nicate, -d (bot.), covered with a tunic or with layers.—n. Tū′nicle, a little tunic: as an ecclesiastical vestment, the same as tunic. [Fr. tunique—L. tunica, an under-garment of both sexes.]
Tunker, tungk′ėr, n. Same as Dunker (q.v.).