tenor
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- tenour (archaic)
EtymologyEdit
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.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenor (countable and uncountable, plural tenors)
Examples (A tenor singing "O Canada") | ||
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- (music) A musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto.
- A person, instrument, or group that performs in the tenor (higher than bass and lower than alto) range.
- (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.
- The lowest tuned in a ring of bells.
- 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.
- (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, volume I, 6th edition, London: […] A[ndrew] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell […]; Edinburgh: W[illiam] Creech, and J. Bell & Co., OCLC 723510352, 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.
- 1751, Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
- Along the cool sequestered vale of life / They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
- (linguistics) The subject in a metaphor to which attributes are ascribed.
- (finance) Time to maturity of a bond.
- Stamp; character; nature.
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415:
- This success would look like chance, if it were perpetual, and always of the same tenor.
- (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.
- 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 606515358, [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.
- (colloquial, music) A tenor saxophone.
Coordinate termsEdit
- (voice types): soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto (female, decreasing in pitch); countertenor, baritone, bass (male, decreasing in pitch)
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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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.
AdjectiveEdit
tenor (not comparable)
- 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.
TranslationsEdit
See alsoEdit
- tenor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Tenor in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
AnagramsEdit
CatalanEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin tenor, tenōrem.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenor m (plural tenors)
Related termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “tenor” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
CzechEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenor m
- tenor (musical range)
Related termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- tenor in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
- tenor in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
DanishEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenor c (singular definite tenoren, plural indefinite tenorer)
- tenor (musical range, person, instrument or group performing in the tenor range)
DeclensionEdit
common gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | tenor | tenoren | tenorer | tenorerne |
genitive | tenors | tenorens | tenorers | tenorernes |
Further readingEdit
DutchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle Dutch tenore, from Medieval Latin tenor or Italian tenore, from Latin tenor.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenor m (plural tenoren or tenors)
Derived termsEdit
IdoEdit
VerbEdit
tenor
- future infinitive of tenar
IndonesianEdit
EtymologyEdit
- From Dutch tenor, from Italian tenore, from Latin tenor.
- Semantic loan from English tenor for sense of time to maturity of a bond.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenor (first-person possessive tenorku, second-person possessive tenormu, third-person possessive tenornya)
Further readingEdit
- “tenor” in Online Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language [Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia Daring], Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
LatinEdit
EtymologyEdit
teneō (“to hold”) + -or (“abstract noun suffix”)
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenor m (genitive tenōris); third declension
- a sustained, continuous course or movement, a continuity of events, conditions etc. or way of proceeding
- 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)
- a tone (of sound or color); stress (of the voice)
- (Medieval Latin) a seisin
DeclensionEdit
Third-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | tenor | tenōrēs |
Genitive | tenōris | tenōrum |
Dative | tenōrī | tenōribus |
Accusative | tenōrem | tenōrēs |
Ablative | tenōre | tenōribus |
Vocative | tenor | tenōrēs |
DescendantsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “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 (21-08-2020), “Das Rechtswort: Tenor”, in Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Romanistische Abteilung (in German), volume 137, DOI:
Middle EnglishEdit
NounEdit
tenor
- Alternative form of tenour
Norwegian BokmålEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Italian tenore, via French ténor and German Tenor.
NounEdit
tenor m (definite singular tenoren, indefinite plural tenorer, definite plural tenorene)
- tenor (singing voice or singer; pitch of a musical instrument)
ReferencesEdit
- “tenor” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian NynorskEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Italian tenore, via French ténor and German Tenor.
NounEdit
tenor m (definite singular tenoren, indefinite plural tenorar, definite plural tenorane)
- tenor (singing voice or singer; pitch of a musical instrument)
ReferencesEdit
- “tenor” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old FrenchEdit
Alternative formsEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From tenir, cf. also Late Latin tentor.
NounEdit
tenor m (oblique plural tenors, nominative singular tenors, nominative plural tenor)
DescendantsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
Inherited from Latin tenor, tenōrem.
NounEdit
tenor f (oblique plural tenors, nominative singular tenor, nominative plural tenors)
- possession
- content (of a letter)
ReferencesEdit
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (tenor, feminine noun, possession)
- tenure on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
PolishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Italian tenore, from Latin tenor.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenor m pers
- tenor (male singer who performs in the tenor range)
DeclensionEdit
NounEdit
tenor m inan
- (music) tenor (musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto)
- tenor (instrument that performs in the tenor range)
- tone, overtone, message
DeclensionEdit
Further readingEdit
- tenor in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- tenor in Polish dictionaries at PWN
PortugueseEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Italian tenore.[1][2] Doublet of teor.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenor m (plural tenores)
AdjectiveEdit
tenor (invariable, not comparable)
ReferencesEdit
- ^ “tenor” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2023.
- ^ “tenor” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.
RomanianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From French ténor or Italian tenore.
NounEdit
tenor m (plural tenori)
DeclensionEdit
SpanishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin tenor, tenōrem, with the sense of "tenor" taken from Italian tenore.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenor m (plural tenores)
Derived termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “tenor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
AnagramsEdit
- norte (see for more anagrams)
TagalogEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenór