FromAncient Greekτονικός(tonikós), fromτόνος(tónos). 17th century writers believed health to be derived from firmly stretched muscles, thustonic; the extension oftonic medicine appeared in the late 18th century. Bysurface analysis,ton(e) +-ic.
2009, Thomas Pynchon,Inherent Vice, Vintage, published2010, page316:
Out in front and across the street, Doc noted half a dozen or so young men, not loitering or doing substances but poised andtonic, as if waiting for some standing order to take effect.
Charlie ain't no Nazi / She likes to wear her leather boots / 'Cause it's exciting for the veterans / And it's atonic for the troops.
2011, Cathy Kelly,She's the One:
'You're atonic, Dee,' she said. 'And a real friend. Thanks.'
2011 February 5, Paul Fletcher, “Newcastle 4 - 4 Arsenal”, inBBC[1]:
The result is the perfecttonic for Newcastle, coming at the end of a week that saw the departure of Andy Carroll to Liverpool on Monday and an injury to Shola Ameobi during Wednesday's defeat at Fulham.
1887,Medical Press and Circular, volume94, page461:
When all signs of effusion, dulness, pain, œgophony, and cough had disappeared he was dieted, stimulated, andtonicked.
1939, Frank Grant Menke,Encyclopedia of Sports, page17:
The Persians, as a nation, were first to discover that fish were edible. The time is fixed at about 3000 B.C. This was their secret for some centuries—until the Assyrians learned about the elegance of fish fortonicking the brain.
