tenor

[ ten-er ]

noun

1. the course of thought or meaning that runs through something written or spoken; purport; drift.

   Synonyms: gist, substance, content, import, sense

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.
   1. the adult male voice intermediate between the bass and the alto or countertenor.
   2. a part sung by or written for such a voice, especially the next to the lowest part in four-part harmony.
   3. a singer with such a voice.
   4. an instrument corresponding in compass to this voice, especially the viola.
   5. the lowest-toned bell of a peal.
5. quality, character, or condition.

adjective

1. Music. of, relating to, or having the compass of a tenor.

tenor

/ ˈtɛnə /

noun

1. music
   1. the male voice intermediate between alto and baritone, having a range approximately from the B a ninth below middle C to the G a fifth above it
   2. a singer with such a voice
   3. a saxophone, horn, recorder, etc, intermediate in compass and size between the alto and baritone or bass
   4. ( as modifier )

      a tenor sax

2. general drift of thought; purpose

   to follow the tenor of an argument

3. 1. (in early polyphonic music) the part singing the melody or the cantus firmus
   2. (in four-part harmony) the second lowest part lying directly above the bass
4. Leisure:Bell-ringing
   1. the heaviest and lowest-pitched bell in a ring
   2. ( as modifier )

      a tenor bell

5. a settled course of progress
6. archaic.
   general tendency
7. finance the time required for a bill of exchange or promissory note to become due for payment
8. law
   1. the exact words of a deed, etc, as distinct from their effect
   2. an exact copy or transcript

tenor

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

Derived Forms

• ˈtenorless, adjective

Other Words From

• tenor·less adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tenor¹

1250–1300; < Medieval Latin, Latin: course, continuity, tone, equivalent to ten ( ēre ) to hold + -or -or ¹; replacing Middle English ten ( o ) ur < Anglo-French < Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of tenor¹

C13 (originally: general meaning or sense): from Old French tenour, from Latin tenor a continuous holding to a course, from tenēre to hold; musical sense via Italian tenore, referring to the voice part that was continuous, that is, to which the melody was assigned

Example Sentences

The tenor saxophonist was one of the most imaginatively restless artists to ever work a bandstand.

From The Daily Beast

There was never any one criterion for how every trombone or tenor saxophone or singer should sound.

From The Daily Beast

Feeling the tenor of the day shift, he asked: “Are you okay?”

From The Daily Beast

It is the desolation of exiled Tibetans that dominates the tenor here, but it is not the only one.

From The Daily Beast

“I would expect that,” he says in a soft tenor voice, with the hint of a Southern lilt.

From The Daily Beast

The tenor dies; the prima donna appears to do the same, but the libretto consoles you by declaring that she only swoons.

From Project Gutenberg

The Seven-score and four on the six middle Bells, the treble leading, and the tenor lying behind every change, makes good Musick.

From Project Gutenberg

These Rules (leaving out the Tenor) serves for five bells; and leaving out the fifth and Tenor, they serve for four bells.

From Project Gutenberg

In the metal of the tenor several coins are visible, one being a Spanish dollar of 1742.

From Project Gutenberg

He passed them by, and haughty tenor and swaggering basso again took heart of grace.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• gist
• mood
• theme
• tone