Voice (?), n. [OE. vois, voys, OF. vois, voiz, F. voix, L. vox, vocis,
akin to Gr. &?; a word, &?; a voice, Skr. vac to say, to speak, G.
erwähnen to mention. Cf. Advocate, Advowson, Avouch, Convoke, Epic,
Vocal, Vouch, Vowel.] 1. Sound uttered by the mouth, especially that
uttered by human beings in speech or song; sound thus uttered
considered as possessing some special quality or character; as, the
human voice; a pleasant voice; a low voice.
He with a manly voice saith his message.
Chaucer.
Her voice was ever soft, Gentle, and low; an excellent thing in woman.
Shak.
Thy voice is music.
Shak.
Join thy voice unto the angel choir.
Milton.
2. (Phon.) Sound of the kind or quality heard in speech or song in the
consonants b, v, d, etc., and in the vowels; sonant, or intonated,
utterance; tone; — distinguished from mere breath sound as heard in f,
s, sh, etc., and also whisper.
Voice, in this sense, is produced by vibration of the so-called vocal
cords in the larynx (see Illust. of Larynx) which act upon the air, not
in the manner of the strings of a stringed instrument, but as a pair of
membranous tongues, or reeds, which, being continually forced apart by
the outgoing current of breath, and continually brought together again
by their own elasticity and muscular tension, break the breath current
into a series of puffs, or pulses, sufficiently rapid to cause the
sensation of tone. The power, or loudness, of such a tone depends on
the force of the separate pulses, and this is determined by the
pressure of the expired air, together with the resistance on the part
of the vocal cords which is continually overcome. Its pitch depends on
the number of aërial pulses within a given time, that is, on the
rapidity of their succession. See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 5, 146,
155.