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") | ||
|---|---|---|
|
- (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.
- Gray
- Along the cool sequestered vale of life / They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
- Gray
- (linguistics) The subject in a metaphor to which attributes are ascribed.
- (finance) Time to maturity of a bond.
- Stamp; character; nature.
- Dryden
- This success would look like chance, if it were perpetual, and always of the same tenor.
- Dryden
- (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?)
- That course of thought which holds on through a discourse; the general drift or course of thought; purport; intent; meaning; understanding.
- Shakespeare
- When it [the bond] is paid according to the tenor.
- Spart
- Does not the whole tenor of the divine law positively require humility and meekness to all men?
- Shakespeare
- (colloquial, music) A tenor saxophone.
Coordinate termsEdit
- (voice types): soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto (female); countertenor, tenor, baritone, bass (male)
- (music) (Initialism of soprano, alto, tenor, bass.) SATB
Derived termsEdit
Derived terms
TranslationsEdit
musical range
musical performer
tone
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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
of or pertaining to the tenor part or range
See alsoEdit
tenor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia 
Tenor in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
AnagramsEdit
CatalanEdit
CzechEdit
EtymologyEdit
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
NounEdit
tenor c (singular definite tenoren, plural indefinite tenorer)
- tenor (musical range, person, instrument or group performing in the tenor range)
InflectionEdit
Declension of tenor
| common gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | tenor | tenoren | tenorer | tenorerne |
| genitive | tenors | tenorens | tenorers | tenorernes |
IdoEdit
LatinEdit
EtymologyEdit
From teneō (“hold”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tenor m (genitive tenōris); third declension
InflectionEdit
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | tenor | tenōrēs |
| Genitive | tenōris | tenōrum |
| Dative | tenōrī | tenōribus |
| Accusative | tenōrem | tenōrēs |
| Ablative | tenōre | tenōribus |
| Vocative | tenor | tenōrēs |
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- 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, 1883–1887)
Middle EnglishEdit
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
EtymologyEdit
From tenir, cf. also Latin tenor.
NounEdit
tenor m (oblique plural tenors, nominative singular tenors, nominative plural tenor)
DescendantsEdit
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