the course of thought or meaning that runs through something written or spoken; purport; drift.
continuous course, progress, or movement.
Rhetoric. the subject of a metaphor, as “she” in “She is a rose.”Compare vehicle (def. 8).
Music.
the adult male voice intermediate between the bass and the alto or countertenor.
a part sung by or written for such a voice, especially the next to the lowest part in four-part harmony.
a singer with such a voice.
an instrument corresponding in compass to this voice, especially the viola.
the lowest-toned bell of a peal.
quality, character, or condition.
adjective
Music. of, relating to, or having the compass of a tenor.
Origin of tenor
1250–1300; <Medieval Latin, Latin: course, continuity, tone, equivalent to ten(ēre) to hold + -or-or1; replacing Middle English ten(o)ur<Anglo-French <Latin, as above
This means artists are left to take health risks at the same moment they’ve been hit with even more financial uncertainty than usual, said Franz Gürtelschmied, a Vienna-based tenor.
Why Vienna opera singers are ready to risk their lives to perform in a pandemic|Julia Belluz|September 30, 2020|Vox
To address that, the data science team created new contextual classifications of content, including the emotional tenor of a story, topic targeting and the motivations that audiences felt after reading an article.
‘Ripped the Band-Aid on some hard decisions’: How The New York Times is reshaping its ad business for a cookie-less world|Kayleigh Barber|September 21, 2020|Digiday
The move was widely expected, given the tone and tenor of the reports that had piled up dating back to last year, but it might be more noteworthy than a typical resignation.
Everything Should Be On The Table For The Houston Rockets. Even James Harden’s Future.|Chris Herring (chris.herring@fivethirtyeight.com)|September 14, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Soon after, while seated next to a fellow tenor at rehearsal, he learned that TWC was looking for an executive director.
Washington Chorus forges ahead amid pandemic|Patrick Folliard|August 26, 2020|Washington Blade
Short and thin strings produce high pitches, which we hear as tenor and treble notes.
Science isn’t just for scientists|Silke Schmidt|March 5, 2020|Science News For Students
The tenor saxophonist was one of the most imaginatively restless artists to ever work a bandstand.
The Stacks: John Coltrane’s Mighty Musical Quest|Nat Hentoff|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There was never any one criterion for how every trombone or tenor saxophone or singer should sound.
The Stacks: John Coltrane’s Mighty Musical Quest|Nat Hentoff|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Feeling the tenor of the day shift, he asked: “Are you okay?”
Aubrey Plaza’s Great Disconnect|Aubrey Plaza|August 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is the desolation of exiled Tibetans that dominates the tenor here, but it is not the only one.
The Real India Revealed|Rafia Zakaria|August 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Irish tenor Ronan Tynan sang at both services, just as he had so many times in New York after 9/11.
Boston and New York’s Bravest Are Brothers Bonded by Tragedy|Michael Daly|April 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the Senate, alarmed at the tenor of his discourses, forbade him to preach.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, No. 383, September 1847|Various
Dumnil, the tenor, used to steal jewellery from the soprano and contralto of the troop, and get intoxicated with the baritone.
History of the Opera from its Origin in Italy to the present Time|Henry Sutherland Edwards
To change the tenor of our thoughts, I asked Littell if he had definitely decided about his trip.
A Master Hand|Richard Dallas
Not having such important auxiliaries, I cannot possibly pronounce what was the tenor of Governor Stuyvesant's speech.
Knickerbocker's History of New York, Complete|Washington Irving
But of the tenor of these thoughts he said nothing; yet Mrs. Caird was satisfied.
Playing With Fire|Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
British Dictionary definitions for tenor
tenor
/ (ˈtɛnə) /
noun
music
the male voice intermediate between alto and baritone, having a range approximately from the B a ninth below middle C to the G a fifth above it
a singer with such a voice
a saxophone, horn, recorder, etc, intermediate in compass and size between the alto and baritone or bass
(as modifier)a tenor sax
general drift of thought; purposeto follow the tenor of an argument
(in early polyphonic music) the part singing the melody or the cantus firmus
(in four-part harmony) the second lowest part lying directly above the bass
bell-ringing
the heaviest and lowest-pitched bell in a ring
(as modifier)a tenor bell
a settled course of progress
archaicgeneral tendency
financethe time required for a bill of exchange or promissory note to become due for payment
law
the exact words of a deed, etc, as distinct from their effect
an exact copy or transcript
Derived forms of tenor
tenorless, adjective
Word Origin for tenor
C13 (originally: general meaning or sense): from Old French tenour, from Latin tenor a continuous holding to a course, from tenēre to hold; musical sense via Italian tenore, referring to the voice part that was continuous, that is, to which the melody was assigned