tenor

/ˈtɛnə(ɹ)/

tenor noun: a musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto.

Noun

tenor (countable and uncountable, plural tenors)

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.
(archaic) 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.1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter XI, page 145
(obsolete) 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.1790, Adam Smith, “Of the Beauty which the Appearance of Utility Bestows upon the Charactes and Actions of Men; […]”, in The Theory of Moral Sentiments; […] In Two Volumes, 6th edition, volume I...
- Along the cool sequestered vale of life / They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.1751, Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
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.1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
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.1523, Lord Berners, The Chronicle of Froissart
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.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- He would have learned , by the whole tenor of the divine law , and especially by the example of the absent Lord , whose property he was for a season trusted with , that he was to do as much good to humanity , and win as much glory to God, as was compatible with the measure of his trust, and for the...1832, Caroline Wilson, The Listener
(colloquial) A tenor saxophone.

Adjective

tenor (not comparable)

Of or pertaining to the tenor part or range.
- He has a tenor voice.
- Many a star athlete has very little hair anywhere except what he wears on top of his head, and a voice that is absolutely tenor.1962, Frank Howard Richardson, For Parents Only: The Doctor Discusses Discipline

tenor meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada

tenor in Malayalam

meaning, sense, theme: ഭാവാർത്ഥം, പൊരുൾ, അർത്ഥം, താത്പര്യം, സാമാന്യമായ ആശയം, മുഖ്യാംശം
direction, course, movement: പ്രവണത, ഗതി, പോക്ക്, പ്രവാഹം, ഒഴുക്ക്, ചായ്വ്

tenor in Kannada

ಒಲವು, ಹುರುಳು, ಮೇಲುಲಿ

More languagesFewer languages

tenor in Odia: ଟେନର
tenor in Vietnamese: nam cao

Examples of tenor in a sentence

The general tenor of the report on No. 35020 is that all the improvements in performance aimed at in the rebuilding of these engines have been achieved.1960 March, “Testing a rebuilt "Merchant Navy" Pacific of the S.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 169:
Sometimes Charlie would sing notes that were more tenor than original melody, forcing Bill to sing a high baritone-style line.2009, Richard Smith, Can't You Hear Me Calling: The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass, Da Capo Press, →ISBN:
The door swung open, and a masculine voice—a little more tenor than Brookes's bass tones—called, “Brookes, come in.2012, Lily George, Captain of Her Heart, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 173:
Kahn was not a big man and he had a voice that was a little more tenor than most preferred.2015, Michael J. Senger Sr., The Connection, Lulu Press, Inc, →ISBN:

All 35 example sentences with tenor

Forms of tenor

plural	tenors
alternative form	tenour

Plural of tenor: tenors

Origin of tenor

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.

Words formed from tenor

Phrases with tenor

11 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about tenor

What does tenor mean?: Tenor means a musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto.
What is tenor in Tamil?: Tenor in Tamil is பொதுவான போக்கு, துத்தம். See Tenor meaning in Tamil.
How do you use tenor in a sentence?: The general tenor of the report on No. 35020 is that all the improvements in performance aimed at in the rebuilding of these engines have been achieved.
What part of speech is tenor?: Tenor can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce tenor?: Tenor is pronounced /ˈtɛnə(ɹ)/ (UK).
What is the plural of tenor?: The plural of tenor is tenors.

Words near tenor in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: tenor (page history and authors); tenor (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tenor (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tenor (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); tenor (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tenor (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-tenor.ogg, en-uk-tenor.ogg.

Cite this entry: “tenor.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tenor. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.