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tenor

te·nor

UK/ˈtɛnə(ɹ)/ US/ˈtɛnɜr/ uncommon archaic obsolete
noun (4) adjective (2)

noun

1.
2.
3.

an adult male with a tenor voice

4.

adjective

1.

(of a musical instrument) intermediate between alto and baritone or bass

  • “a tenor sax”
Similar
2.

of or close in range to the highest natural adult male voice

  • “tenor voice”
Similar

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • Middle Tenor
  • New Tenor
  • Old Tenor
  • tenor banjo
  • tenor clef
  • tenor drum
  • tenor guitar
  • tenor horn

Related words

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.