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tenor

Pronunciation: /ˈtɛnə(ɹ)/

The English word “tenor” has 13 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto.
  2. A person, instrument, or group that performs in the tenor (higher than bass and lower than alto) range.
  3. A musical part or section that holds or performs the main melody, as opposed to the contratenor bassus and contratenor altus, who perform countermelodies.
  4. The lowest tuned in a ring of bells.
  5. Tone, as of a conversation.
  6. duration; continuance; a state of holding on in a continuous course; general tendency; career.
  7. The subject in a metaphor to which attributes are ascribed.
  8. Time to maturity of a bond.
  9. Stamp; character; nature.
  10. 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.
  11. That course of thought which holds on through a discourse; the general drift or course of thought; purport; intent; meaning; understanding.
  12. A tenor saxophone.

adjective

  1. Of or pertaining to the tenor part or range.

Etymology

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.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.