Tenor Definition | Definition of Tenor at Dictionary.com

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tenor - 6 dictionary results

ten⋅or

[ten-er]

Use tenor in a Sentence

–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(ēre) to hold + -or -or ¹ ; 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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ten·or (těn'ər)

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.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tenor

Ten"or\, n. [L., from tenere to hold; hence, properly, a holding on in a continued course: cf. F. teneur. See Tenable, and cf. Tenor a kind of voice.]

1. A state of holding on in a continuous course; manner of continuity; constant mode; general tendency; course; career.

Along the cool sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their away. --Gray.

2. That course of thought which holds on through a discourse; the general drift or course of thought; purport; intent; meaning; understanding.

When it [the bond] is paid according to the tenor. --Shak.

Does not the whole tenor of the divine law positively require humility and meekness to all men? --Spart.

3. Stamp; character; nature.

This success would look like chance, if it were perpetual, and always of the same tenor. --Dryden.

4. (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. --Bouvier.

5. [F. t['e]nor, L. tenor, properly, a holding; -- so called because the tenor was the voice which took and held the principal part, the plain song, air, or tune, to which the other voices supplied a harmony above and below: cf. It. tenore.] (Mus.) (a) The higher of the two kinds of voices usually belonging to adult males; hence, the part in the harmony adapted to this voice; the second of the four parts in the scale of sounds, reckoning from the base, and originally the air, to which the other parts were auxillary. (b) A person who sings the tenor, or the instrument that play it.

Old Tenor, New Tenor, Middle Tenor, different descriptions of paper money, issued at different periods, by the American colonial governments in the last century.

Language Translation for : tenor

Spanish: tenor,

German: der Tenor,

Japanese: テノール

More Translations »

tenor

The highest range of the male singing voice. (Compare baritone and bass.)

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.

Tenor

The term or life of a contract.

Investopedia Commentary

This is similar to maturity.