tenor
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tenor
- /ˈtɛnə(ɹ)/ UK
Sounds like tenner
Where it comes from
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 (“to hold”). In music, from the notion of the one who holds the melody, as opposed to the countertenor.
noun tenors · tenour
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- duration; continuance; a state of holding on in a continuous course; general tendency; career. It is the conſciouſneſs of this merited approbation and eſteem which is alone capable of ſupporting the agent in this tenour of conduct.
- The subject in a metaphor to which attributes are ascribed.
- Time to maturity of a bond.
- Stamp; character; nature. This success would look like chance, if it were perpetual, and always of the same tenor.
- 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. 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. When it [the bond] is paid according to the tenor.
- A tenor saxophone.
adjective tenour
- Of or pertaining to the tenor part or range. He has a tenor voice.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: high, high-pitched, strain, tenor voice, keynote, tone, wording, meaning, ringtone, sense, mood, trend, concentration, substance, accordance, grade
Translations
Talk about this word "tenor." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tenor. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. tenor. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tenor "tenor." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tenor.Cite this
@misc{tenor_2026,
title = {tenor},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tenor},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
