monotony

What it means

1. Tedium as a result of repetition or a lack of variety.

   Yet second-hand romance and second-hand emotion are surely better than the dull, soul-killing monotony which life brings to most of the human race.

   1907, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 1, in Through the Magic Door, archived from the original on 12 Apr 2011

   2 more examples

   It matters little to trace the rapidity of the land journey, or the monotony of the sea voyage—alike unmarked by adventure. Robert Evelyn landed at Southampton,...

   1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter II, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 24

   Transform my death into a conduit This body separate from the fear of fear Inside a coping mechanism of monotony I will destroy the double vision that I was forced to leave

   2023, “Angel Eyes”, performed by Spiritbox

   Synonyms: boredom

2. mathematicsThe property of a monotonic function.
3. The quality of having an unvarying tone or pitch.

In a sentence

It matters little to trace the rapidity of the land journey, or the monotony of the sea voyage—alike unmarked by adventure. Robert Evelyn landed at Southampton,...

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter II, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 24

Where it comes from

1. Ancient Greekμονοτονία“sameness of tone, monotony”
2. Late Latinmonotonia
3. Frenchmonotonie
4. Englishmonotony

From French monotonie, from Late Latin monotonia, from Ancient Greek μονοτονία (monotonía, “sameness of tone, monotony”).