Tenor - Definitions from Dictionary.com

10 results for: Tenor

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ten·or

Audio Help [ten-er] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the course of thought or meaning that runs through something written or spoken; purport; drift.

2.	continuous course, progress, or movement.

3.	Rhetoric. the subject of a metaphor, as “she” in “She is a rose.” Compare vehicle (def. 8).

Music.

a.	the adult male voice intermediate between the bass and the alto or countertenor.

b.	a part sung by or written for such a voice, esp. the next to the lowest part in four-part harmony.

c.	a singer with such a voice.

d.	an instrument corresponding in compass to this voice, esp. the viola.

e.	the lowest-toned bell of a peal.

5.	quality, character, or condition.

–adjective

6.	Music. of, pertaining to, or having the compass of a tenor.

[Origin: 1250–1300; < ML, L: course, continuity, tone, equiv. to ten(ére) to hold + -or -or¹; r. ME ten(o)ur < AF < L, as above

]

—Related forms

ten·or·less, adjective

—Synonyms 1. sense, import, content, substance, gist.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Tenor

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ten·or Audio Help (těn'ər) Pronunciation Key
n.

A continuous, unwavering course. See Synonyms at tendency.
The word, phrase, or subject with which the vehicle of a metaphor is identified, as life in "Life's but a walking shadow" (Shakespeare).
1. The course of thought or argument running through something written or spoken.
2. General sense; purport.
3. The exact meaning or actual wording of a document as distinct from its effect.
4. An exact copy of a document.
5. The highest natural adult male voice.
6. One who sings this part.
7. An instrument that sounds within this range.
8. Abbr. T A vocal or instrumental part written within this range.
Law
1. The exact meaning or actual wording of a document as distinct from its effect.
2. An exact copy of a document.
3. The highest natural adult male voice.
4. One who sings this part.
5. An instrument that sounds within this range.
6. Abbr. T A vocal or instrumental part written within this range.
Music
1. The highest natural adult male voice.
2. One who sings this part.
3. An instrument that sounds within this range.
4. Abbr. T A vocal or instrumental part written within this range.

[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin, uninterrupted course, from tenēre, to hold, continue; see ten- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
tenor

c.1300, "general meaning, purpose, drift," from O.Fr. tenour "substance, sense" (13c.), from L. tenorem (nom. tenor) "contents, course," originally "a holding on," from tenere "to hold" (see tenet). The musical sense of "high male voice" is attested from c.1388, because the sustained melody (canto fermo) was carried by the tenor's part.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

tenor
adjective
1.	(of a musical instrument) intermediate between alto and baritone or bass; "a tenor sax"
2.	of or close in range to the highest natural adult male voice; "tenor voice"
noun
1.	the adult male singing voice above baritone
2.	the pitch range of the highest male voice
3.	an adult male with a tenor voice
4.	a settled or prevailing or habitual course of a person's life; "nothing disturbed the even tenor of her ways"
5.	the general meaning or substance of an utterance; "although I disagreed with him I could follow the tenor of his argument"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
tenor [ˈtenə] noun

(a man with) a singing voice of the highest normal pitch for an adult male

Arabic:	أعْلى أصوات الرِّجال في الغِناء
Chinese (Simplified):	男高音
Chinese (Traditional):	男高音
Czech:	tenor
Danish:	tenor
Dutch:	tenor
Estonian:	tenor
Finnish:	tenori
French:	ténor
German:	der Tenor
Greek:	τενόρος
Hungarian:	tenor(ista)
Icelandic:	tenórsöngvari
Indonesian:	tenor
Italian:	tenore

Japanese:	テノール
Korean:	테너
Latvian:	tenors
Lithuanian:	tenoras
Norwegian:	tenor
Polish:	tenor
Portuguese (Brazil):	tenor
Portuguese (Portugal):	tenor
Romanian:	tenor
Russian:	тенор
Slovak:	tenor
Slovenian:	tenor
Spanish:	tenor
Swedish:	tenor
Turkish:	tenor (sesi, *çalgısı)