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tenor
7 dictionary results for: tenor
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ten·or       [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).
4.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.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ten·or       (těn'ər)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. A continuous, unwavering course. See Synonyms at tendency.
  2. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
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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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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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" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
tenor

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


The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Investopedia - Cite This Source - Share This

Tenor

The term or life of a contract.

Investopedia Commentary

This is similar to maturity.

See also: Maturity

Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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