Adjacent Words

Tenor definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TEN'OR, n. [L. tenor, from teneo, to hold.]
1. Continued run or currency; whole course or strain. We understand a speaker's intention or views from the tenor of his conversation, that is, from the general course of his ideas, or general purport of his speech.
Does not the whole tenor of the divine law positively require humility and meekness to all men?
2. Stamp; character. The conversation was of the same tenor as that of the preceding day.
This success would look like chance, if it were not perpetual and always of the same tenor.
3. Sense contained; purport; substance; general course or drift; as close attention to the tenor of the discourse. Warrants are to be executed according to their form and tenor.
Bid me tear the bond.
--When it is paid according to the tenor.
4. In music, the natural pitch of a man's voice in singing; hence, the part of a tune adapted to a man's voice, the second of the four parts, reckoning from the base; and originally the air, to which the other parts were auxiliary.
5. The persons who sing the tenor, or the instrument that plays it.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
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" n
1: the adult male singing voice above baritone [syn: tenor, tenor voice]
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" [syn: tenor, strain]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English tenour, from Anglo-French, from Latin tenor uninterrupted course, from ten?re to hold — more at thin Date: 14th century 1. a. the drift of something spoken or written ; purport b. an exact copy of a writing ; transcript c. the concept, object, or person meant in a metaphor 2. a. the melodic line usually forming the cantus firmus in medieval music b. the voice part next to the lowest in a 4-part chorus c. the highest natural adult male singing voice; also a person having this voice d. a member of a family of instruments having a range next lower than that of the alto 3. a continuance in a course, movement, or activity 4. habitual condition ; character Synonyms: see tendency II. adjective Date: 1522 relating to or having the range or part of a tenor

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a a singing-voice between baritone and alto or counter-tenor, the highest of the ordinary adult male range. b a singer with this voice. c a part written for it. 2 a an instrument, esp. a viola, recorder, or saxophone, of which the range is roughly that of a tenor voice. b (in full tenor bell) the largest bell of a peal or set. 3 (usu. foll. by of) the general purport or drift of a document or speech. 4 (usu. foll. by of) a settled or prevailing course or direction, esp. the course of a person's life or habits. 5 Law a the actual wording of a document. b an exact copy. 6 the subject to which a metaphor refers (opp. VEHICLE 4). Phrases and idioms: tenor clef Mus. a clef placing middle C on the second highest line of the staff. Etymology: ME f. AF tenur, OF tenour f. L tenor -oris f. tenere hold

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(tenors) 1. A tenor is a male singer whose voice is fairly high. N-COUNT: oft N n 2. A tenor saxophone or other musical instrument has a range of notes that are of a fairly low pitch. ...one of the best tenor sax players ever. ADJ 3. The tenor of something is the general meaning or mood that it expresses. (FORMAL) The whole tenor of discussions has changed... N-SING: with poss

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Course, manner, fashion, mood, form, cast, cut, stamp, tone, tendency, character. 2. Meaning, intent, purport, import, sense, spirit, drift, gist, significance. 3. (Mus.) Highest part (for a man's voice).

Moby Thesaurus

Heldentenor, Meistersinger, Zeitgeist, accompaniment, affective meaning, aim, alto, apograph, aria singer, azimuth, baritenor, baritone, bass, basso, basso buffo, basso cantante, basso continuo, basso ostinato, basso profundo, bassus, bearing, bent, bias, blues singer, body, body-build, brand, bravura, canary, cantatrice, canto, cantor, cantus, cantus figuratus, cantus planus, carbon, carbon copy, caroler, cast, chanter, chantress, character, characteristic, characteristics, choral, choric, coloratura, coloratura soprano, coloring, comic bass, complexion, composition, connotation, consequence, constituents, constitution, continuo, contralto, core, countertenor, course, crasis, crooner, current, deep bass, denotation, descant, dharma, diathesis, direction, direction line, disposition, diva, dramatic, dramatic soprano, drift, drone, effect, essence, ethos, extension, falsetto, fashion, fiber, fiche, figured bass, force, form, frame, genius, gist, glacial movement, grain, grammatical meaning, ground bass, guise, habit, head register, head tone, head voice, heading, helmsmanship, heroic, heroic tenor, high, high-pitched, high-sounding, high-toned, hue, humor, humors, hymnal, hymner, idea, ilk, impact, implication, import, improvisator, inclination, inference, intension, intent, kind, lay, lead singer, lexical meaning, lie, lieder singer, line, line of direction, line of march, literal meaning, liturgical, lyric, main current, mainstream, makeup, male alto, manifold, manner, meaning, meat, melodist, mezzo-soprano, microcopy, microfiche, microform, mode, mold, mood, motion, movement, nature, navigation, opera singer, operatic, orientation, overtone, part, pertinence, physique, piloting, pith, plain chant, plain song, point, practical consequence, prick song, prima donna, property, psalm singer, psalmic, psalmodial, psalmodic, purport, purpose, quality, quarter, range, range of meaning, real meaning, recording, reference, referent, relation, relevance, rock-and-roll singer, rubbing, run, sacred, scope, semantic cluster, semantic field, sense, set, shape, significance, signification, significatum, signifie, singer, singing, singstress, somatotype, songbird, songster, songstress, soprano, sort, span of meaning, spirit, stamp, steerage, steering, streak, stream, stripe, structural meaning, stuff, style, substance, suchness, sum, sum and substance, swing, symbolic meaning, system, temper, temperament, tendency, the general tendency, the main course, theme, thorough bass, thread, time spirit, tone, torch singer, totality of associations, tracing, track, transcript, transcription, transfer, transferred meaning, treble, trend, turn, type, unadorned meaning, undersong, undertone, value, vein, vocal, vocalist, vocalizer, voice, voice part, warbler, way, yodeler