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tenor

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Tenor, tenór, and ténor

English

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 Tenor (disambiguation) on Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English tenour, from Anglo-Norman tenour, from Old French tenor (“substance, contents, meaning, sense; tenor part in music”), from Latin tenor (“course, continuance; holder”), from teneō (“I hold”). In music, from the notion of the one who holds the melody, as opposed to the countertenor.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tenor (countable and uncountable, plural tenors)

Examples (A tenor singing "O Canada")
Audio:(file)
  1. (music) A musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto.
  2. A person, instrument, or group that performs in the tenor (higher than bass and lower than alto) range.
  3. (archaic, music) A musical part or section that holds or performs the main melody, as opposed to the contratenor bassus and contratenor altus, who perform countermelodies.
  4. The lowest tuned in a ring of bells.
  5. Tone, as of a conversation.
    • 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter XI, page 145:
      Colonel Walton, who had striven to check the conversation at moments when he became conscious of its tenor, now gladly engaged his guest on other and more legitimate topics.
  6. (obsolete) duration; continuance; a state of holding on in a continuous course; general tendency; career.
  7. (linguistics) The subject in a metaphor to which attributes are ascribed.
  8. (finance) Time to maturity of a bond.
  9. Stamp; character; nature.
  10. (law) An exact copy of a writing, set forth in the words and figures of it. It differs from purport, which is only the substance or general import of the instrument.
    • 1523, Lord Berners, The Chronicle of Froissart:
      Than he shall delyuer to vs a tenour of that he ought to do.
  11. That course of thought which holds on through a discourse; the general drift or course of thought; purport; intent; meaning; understanding.
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
      When it [the bond] is paid according to the tenor.
    • 1832, Caroline Wilson, The Listener:
      He would have learned , by the whole tenor of the divine law , and especially by the example of the absent Lord , whose property he was for a season trusted with , that he was to do as much good to humanity , and win as much glory to God, as was compatible with the measure of his trust, and for the time for which he might retain it.
    • 1960 March, “Testing a rebuilt "Merchant Navy" Pacific of the S.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 169:
      The general tenor of the report on No. 35020 is that all the improvements in performance aimed at in the rebuilding of these engines have been achieved.
  12. (colloquial, music) A tenor saxophone.

Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Adjective

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tenor (not comparable)

  1. Of or pertaining to the tenor part or range.
    He has a tenor voice.
    • 1962, Frank Howard Richardson, For Parents Only: The Doctor Discusses Discipline:
      Many a star athlete has very little hair anywhere except what he wears on top of his head, and a voice that is absolutely tenor.
    • 2009, Richard Smith, Can't You Hear Me Calling: The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass, Da Capo Press, →ISBN:
      Sometimes Charlie would sing notes that were more tenor than original melody, forcing Bill to sing a high baritone-style line.
    • 2012, Lily George, Captain of Her Heart, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 173:
      The door swung open, and a masculine voice—a little more tenor than Brookes's bass tones—called, “Brookes, come in. Do you have your colleague with you?”
    • 2015, Michael J. Senger Sr., The Connection, Lulu Press, Inc, →ISBN:
      Kahn was not a big man and he had a voice that was a little more tenor than most preferred.

Translations

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See also

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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin tenōrem.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tenor m (plural tenors)

  1. (music) tenor

Noun

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tenor m or (archaic) f (plural tenors)

  1. tone, tendency, tenor
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Further reading

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Czech

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Etymology

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Latin teneo.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tenor m anim

  1. tenor (higher-range male singer)

Declension

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Declension of tenor (hard masculine animate)
singular plural
nominative tenor tenoři
genitive tenora tenorů
dative tenorovi, tenoru tenorům
accusative tenora tenory
vocative tenore tenoři
locative tenorovi, tenoru tenorech
instrumental tenorem tenory

Noun

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tenor m inan

  1. tenor (musical range)

Declension

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Declension of tenor (hard masculine inanimate)
singular plural
nominative tenor tenory
genitive tenoru tenorů
dative tenoru tenorům
accusative tenor tenory
vocative tenore tenory
locative tenoru tenorech
instrumental tenorem tenory
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Related terms

Further reading

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  • “tenor”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
  • “tenor”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
  • “tenor”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Danish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /teˈnoːr/, [teˈnoˀɐ̯]

Noun

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tenor c (singular definite tenoren, plural indefinite tenorer)

  1. tenor (musical range, person, instrument or group performing in the tenor range)

Declension

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Declension of tenor
common
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative tenor tenoren tenorer tenorerne
genitive tenors tenorens tenorers tenorernes

Further reading

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Dutch

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Etymology

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From Middle Dutch tenore, from Medieval Latin tenor or Italian tenore, from Latin tenor.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tenor m (plural tenoren or tenors)

  1. tenor

Derived terms

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Ido

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Verb

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tenor

  1. future infinitive of tenar

Indonesian

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Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia id

Etymology

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈtɛnɔr]
  • Hyphenation: tè‧nor

Noun

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tenor (plural tenor-tenor)

  1. tenor:
    1. (music) a musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto
    2. (music) a person, instrument or group that performs in the tenor (higher than bass and lower than alto) range
    3. (finance) time to maturity of a bond

Further reading

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Latin

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Etymology

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teneō (“to hold”) +‎ -or (“abstract noun suffix”)

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tenor m (genitive tenōris); third declension

  1. a sustained, continuous course or movement, a continuity of events, conditions etc. or way of proceeding
  2. a line of reasoning, point, gist of an utterance in so far as it decides legal questions whether individually or generally, a provision (either its wording or its meaning)
  3. a tone (of sound or color); stress (of the voice)
  4. (Medieval Latin) a seisin

Declension

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Third-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative tenor tenōrēs
genitive tenōris tenōrum
dative tenōrī tenōribus
accusative tenōrem tenōrēs
ablative tenōre tenōribus
vocative tenor tenōrēs

Descendants

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Further reading

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  • “tenor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “tenor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • "tenor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • “tenor” on page 2118 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
  • Wacke, Andreas (2020 August 21) “Das Rechtswort: Tenor”, in Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Romanistische Abteilung (in German), volume 137, →DOI

Middle English

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Noun

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tenor

  1. Alternative form of tenour

Norwegian Bokmål

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Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

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From Italian tenore, via French ténor and German Tenor.

Noun

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tenor m (definite singular tenoren, indefinite plural tenorer, definite plural tenorene)

  1. tenor (singing voice or singer; pitch of a musical instrument)

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology

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From Italian tenore, via French ténor and German Tenor.

Noun

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tenor m (definite singular tenoren, indefinite plural tenorar, definite plural tenorane)

  1. tenor (singing voice or singer; pitch of a musical instrument)

References

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Old French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology 1

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From tenir, cf. also Late Latin tentor.

Noun

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tenor oblique singular, m (oblique plural tenors, nominative singular tenors, nominative plural tenor)

  1. holder; possessor (one who possesses; one who has)
Descendants
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Etymology 2

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Inherited from Latin tenor, tenōrem.

Noun

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tenor oblique singular, f (oblique plural tenors, nominative singular tenor, nominative plural tenors)

  1. possession
  2. content (of a letter)

References

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian tenore, from Latin tenor.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tenor m pers

  1. tenor (male singer who performs in the tenor range)

Declension

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Declension of tenor
singular plural
nominative tenor tenorzy/tenory (deprecative)
genitive tenora tenorów
dative tenorowi tenorom
accusative tenora tenorów
instrumental tenorem tenorami
locative tenorze tenorach
vocative tenorze tenorzy

Noun

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tenor m inan

  1. (music) tenor (musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto)
  2. tenor (instrument that performs in the tenor range)
  3. tone, overtone, message
    Synonyms: sens, wydźwięk

Declension

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Declension of tenor
singular plural
nominative tenor tenory
genitive tenoru tenorów
dative tenorowi tenorom
accusative tenor tenory
instrumental tenorem tenorami
locative tenorze tenorach
vocative tenorze tenory

Further reading

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  • tenor in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • tenor in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian tenore.[1][2] Doublet of teor.

Pronunciation

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  • Rhymes: (Portugal, São Paulo) -oɾ, (Brazil) -oʁ
  • Hyphenation: te‧nor

Noun

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tenor m (plural tenores)

  1. (music) tenor (musical range)
  2. (music) tenor (musical performer)

Adjective

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tenor (invariable, not comparable)

  1. (music) tenor (of or relating to the tenor part or range)

References

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  1. ^ “tenor”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
  2. ^ “tenor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French ténor or Italian tenore.

Noun

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tenor m (plural tenori)

  1. tenor

Declension

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Declension of tenor
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative tenor tenorul tenori tenorii
genitive-dative tenor tenorului tenori tenorilor
vocative tenorule tenorilor

Spanish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin tenōrem, with the sense of "tenor" taken from Italian tenore.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /teˈnoɾ/ [t̪eˈnoɾ]
  • Rhymes: -oɾ
  • Syllabification: te‧nor

Noun

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tenor m (plural tenores)

  1. tenor
  2. (formal) sense, meaning

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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  • norte (see for more anagrams)

Tagalog

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Spanish tenor.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tenór (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜒᜈᜓᜇ᜔)

  1. (music) tenor (musical range)
  2. singer with a tenor voice
  3. underlying meaning shown (by the drift of words or tone of voice)
    Synonyms: himig, tono, tunog, hagkis, pahiwatig

Anagrams

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Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=tenor&oldid=84551106"