from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
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Along the cool sequestered vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their away. --Gray.
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2. That course of thought which holds on through a discourse;
the general drift or course of thought; purport; intent;
meaning; understanding.
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When it [the bond] is paid according to the tenor.
--Shak.
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Does not the whole tenor of the divine law
positively require humility and meekness to all men?
--Spart.
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3. Stamp; character; nature.
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This success would look like chance, if it were
perpetual, and always of the same tenor. --Dryden.
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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.
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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.
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{Old Tenor}, {New Tenor}, {Middle Tenor}, different
descriptions of paper money, issued at different periods,
by the American colonial governments in the last century.
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