tenor

CEFRC1

/ˈtɛnə(ɹ)/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A high male singing voice.

  2. 02

    noun

    The general meaning or character of something.

Examples

  • The tenor of the report is fairly negative.

  • I play the tenor saxophone.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A musical part or section that holds or performs the main melody, as opposed to the contratenor bassus and contratenor altus, who perform countermelodies.

  2. A person, instrument, or group that performs in the tenor (higher than bass and lower than alto) range.

  3. A musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto.

More examples

In context

  • He has a tenor voice.

  • It is the conſciouſneſs of this merited approbation and eſteem which is alone capable of ſupporting the agent in this tenour of conduct.

  • 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.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The male opera singer was famous for his high blank voice that could reach the highest notes.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.