Tenor Meaning
/ˈtɛnə(ɹ)/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto.
nounA person, instrument, or group that performs in the tenor (higher than bass and lower than alto) range.
Sentence Examples
The tenor of the report is fairly negative.
I play the tenor saxophone.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The male opera singer was famous for his high ____ voice that could reach the highest notes.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The general ____ of the meeting was very positive, as everyone agreed on the main goals for the new project today.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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, London: […] A[ndrew] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell […]; Edinburgh: W[illiam] Creech, and J. Bell & Co., →OCLC, part IV, page 481:
"Along the cool sequestered vale of life / They kept the noiseless tenor of their way."
— 1751, Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard:
"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:
"Than he shall delyuer to vs a tenour of that he ought to do."
— 1523, Lord Berners, The Chronicle of Froissart:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The male opera singer was famous for his high ____ voice that could reach the highest notes.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The general ____ of the meeting was very positive, as everyone agreed on the main goals for the new project today.