tenor
/ˈtɛnə(ɹ)/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.40 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person, instrument, or group that performs in the tenor (higher than bass and lower than alto) range.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A musical part or section that holds or performs the main melody, as opposed to the contratenor bassus and contratenor altus, who perform countermelodies.
Archaic; Countable; Uncountable
noun
duration; continuance; a state of holding on in a continuous course; general tendency; career.
Countable; Obsolete; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "It is the conſciouſneſs of this merited approbation and eſteem which is alone capable of ſupporting the agent in this tenour of conduct."
- "Along the cool sequestered vale of life / They kept the noiseless tenor of their way."
- "This success would look like chance, if it were perpetual, and always of the same tenor."
- "Than he shall delyuer to vs a tenour of that he ought to do."
- "When it [the bond] is paid according to the tenor."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈtɛnə(ɹ)/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Music.
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
soprano
mezzo-soprano
contralto
countertenor
baritone
bass
Tenor in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)