tenor

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“
Mr. Larsen went on to explain that he managed the music in his church himself, and drilled his choir, though the tenor was the official choirmaster.

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Definitions (40)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. noun A continuous, unwavering course. See Synonyms at tendency.
  2. noun The word, phrase, or subject with which the vehicle of a metaphor is identified, as life in "Life's but a walking shadow” (Shakespeare).
  3. noun The course of thought or argument running through something written or spoken.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (22)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • "If a tenor is absolutely necessary, I'll attempt it," Helva volunteered. —  The Ship Who Sang
  • She jumped her voice an octave and a half, switching registers to helden-tenor, her phrase ringing through the plaza in an arrow of sheer emotion, packed sound to pierce the trance of her scout. —  The Ship Who Sang
  • His communicator spouted voices whose tones ranged from basso profundo to high tenor, and whose ideas of proper astrogation seemed to vary more widely still You there!_" boomed a voice with deafening volume. —  The Pirates of Ersatz
  • Mace also says that the treble viol had its strings just half the length of the bass viol, and the tenor was of a medium size between these. —  Shakespeare and Music With Illustrations from the Music of the 16th and 17th centuries
  • I suppose it would be called a tenor voice. —  Autobiography of Seventy Years, Vol. 1-2
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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

soprano ·  baritone ·  bass ·  cadence ·  sing ·  alto ·  singer ·  melody ·  composer ·  accent ·  chorus ·  rhythm

Used in the same contextWord Family

tenor:   tenors
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin, uninterrupted course, from tenēre, to hold, continue; see ten- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also tenour, sometimes tennure; from Middle English tenour, tenor, tenoure, from Old French tenour, teneur = Provencal Spanish tenor = Portuguese teor = Italian tenore, from Latin tenor, a holding on, uninterrupted sense, tone, accent, Middle Latin also, in music, the chief melody (cantus firmus), hence the highest adult male voice, to which the chief melody was assigned; from tenere, hold: see tenant.
 

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/ˈtɛnər/
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