tenor

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See also: Tenor, tenór, and ténor

English

 Tenor (disambiguation) on Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Etymology

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(deprecated template usage) 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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  • Homophone: tenner

Noun

tenor (countable and uncountable, plural tenors) Template:examples-right

  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.
    • 1790, Adam Smith, “Of the Beauty which the Appearance of Utility Bestows upon the Charactes and Actions of Men; […]”, in The Theory of Moral Sentiments; […] In Two Volumes, 6th edition, volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell […]; Edinburgh: W[illiam] Creech, and J. Bell & Co., →OCLC, part IV, page 481:
      It is the conſciouſneſs of this merited approbation and eſteem which is alone capable of ſupporting the agent in this tenour of conduct.
    • (Can we date this quote by Gray and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Along the cool sequestered vale of life / They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
  7. (linguistics) The subject in a metaphor to which attributes are ascribed.
  8. (finance) Time to maturity of a bond.
  9. Stamp; character; nature.
    • (Can we date this quote by Dryden and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      This success would look like chance, if it were perpetual, and always of the same tenor.
  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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Bouvier to this entry?)
  11. That course of thought which holds on through a discourse; the general drift or course of thought; purport; intent; meaning; understanding.
    • (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      When it [the bond] is paid according to the tenor.
    • (Can we date this quote by Spart and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Does not the whole tenor of the divine law positively require humility and meekness to all men?
  12. (colloquial, music) A tenor saxophone.

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Translations

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

Adjective

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

See also

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin tenor, tenōrem.

Noun

tenor m (plural tenors)

  1. tone, tendency
  2. tenor

Czech

Etymology

Latin teneo.

Pronunciation

Noun

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  1. tenor (musical range)
Related terms

Further reading

Danish

Noun

tenor c (singular definite tenoren, plural indefinite tenorer)

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

Inflection

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

Ido

Verb

(deprecated template usage) tenor

  1. future infinitive of tenar

Latin

Etymology

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(deprecated template usage) From teneō (“hold”).

Pronunciation

Noun

tenor m (genitive tenōris); third declension

  1. a holding on, continuance, course, career, duration
  2. a holder

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative tenor tenōrēs
Genitive tenōris tenōrum
Dative tenōrī tenōribus
Accusative tenōrem tenōrēs
Ablative tenōre tenōribus
Vocative tenor tenōrēs

Descendants

  • Catalan: tenor
  • Old French: tenor
  • Galician: teor

Template:mid2

References

  • “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)

Middle English

Noun

tenor

  1. Alternative form of tenour

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

From Italian tenore, via French ténor and German Tenor

Noun

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

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

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology

From Italian tenore, via French ténor and German Tenor

Noun

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

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

References

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From tenir, cf. also Latin tenor.

Noun

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

  1. holder; possessor (one who possesses; one who has)

Descendants

Noun

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

  1. possession
  2. content (of a letter)

References

Spanish

Etymology

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

Noun

tenor m (plural tenores)

  1. tenor
  2. (formal) sense, meaning

Anagrams

  • norte (see for more anagrams)
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