a steady sound without overtones; "they tested his hearing with pure tones of different frequencies"
Any sound which can be distinctly heard as a single pitch or a set of single pitches.
Simple sound wave used in testing hearing.
Having no overtones; "simple tone."
A pure tone is a single frequency tone with no harmonic content (no overtones). This corresponds to a sine wave. It is characterized by the frequency — the number of cycles per second, the wavelength — the distance the waveform travels through its medium within a period, and the amplitude — the size of the cycles.