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tenormore about tenor

tenor

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Tenor  \Ten"or\,  n.  [L.,  from  tenere  to  hold  hence  properly,  a 
  holding  on  in  a  continued  course:  cf  F.  teneur  See 
  {Tenable},  and  cf  {Tenor}  a  kind  of  voice.] 
  1.  A  state  of  holding  on  in  a  continuous  course;  manner  of 
  continuity;  constant  mode;  general  tendency;  course; 
  career. 
 
  Along  the  cool  sequestered  vale  of  life  They  kept 
  the  noiseless  tenor  of  their  away  --Gray. 
 
  2.  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. 
  --Shak. 
 
  Does  not  the  whole  tenor  of  the  divine  law 
  positively  require  humility  and  meekness  to  all  men? 
  --Spart. 
 
  3.  Stamp;  character;  nature. 
 
  This  success  would  look  like  chance,  if  it  were 
  perpetual,  and  always  of  the  same  tenor.  --Dryden. 
 
  4.  (Law)  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. 
  --Bouvier. 
 
  5.  [F.  t['e]nor,  L.  tenor,  properly,  a  holding;  --  so  called 
  because  the  tenor  was  the  voice  which  took  and  held  the 
  principal  part  the  plain  song,  air,  or  tune,  to  which  the 
  other  voices  supplied  a  harmony  above  and  below:  cf  It 
  tenore.]  (Mus.) 
  a  The  higher  of  the  two  kinds  of  voices  usually 
  belonging  to  adult  males;  hence  the  part  in  the 
  harmony  adapted  to  this  voice;  the  second  of  the  four 
  parts  in  the  scale  of  sounds,  reckoning  from  the  base, 
  and  originally  the  air,  to  which  the  other  parts  were 
  auxillary. 
  b  A  person  who  sings  the  tenor,  or  the  instrument  that 
  play  it 
 
  {Old  Tenor},  {New  Tenor},  {Middle  Tenor},  different 
  descriptions  of  paper  money,  issued  at  different  periods, 
  by  the  American  colonial  governments  in  the  last  century. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  tenor 
  adj  1:  (of  a  musical  instrument)  intermediate  between  alto  and 
  baritone  or  bass;  "a  tenor  sax" 
  2:  of  or  close  in  range  to  the  highest  natural  adult  male 
  voice;  "tenor  voice" 
  n  1:  the  adult  male  singing  voice  above  baritone  [syn:  {tenor 
  voice}] 
  2:  the  pitch  range  of  the  highest  male  voice 
  3:  an  adult  male  with  a  tenor  voice 
  4:  pervading  note  of  an  utterance;  "I  could  follow  the  general 
  tenor  of  his  argument"  [syn:  {strain}]




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