From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tenor \Ten"or\, noun [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.
Along the cool sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their away. --Gray.
2. That course of thought which holds on through a discourse; the general drift or course of thought; purport; intent; meaning; understanding.
When it [the bond] is paid according to the tenor. --Shak.
Does not the whole tenor of the divine law positively require humility and meekness to all men? --Spart.
This success would look like chance, if it were perpetual, and always of the same tenor. --Dryden.
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.
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.
{Old Tenor}, {New Tenor}, {Middle Tenor}, different descriptions of paper money, issued at different periods, by the American colonial governments in the last century.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
high-pitched \high-pitched\ adjective
1. high in pitch or frequency; -- used of sounds and voices. Opposite of {low}. [Narrower terms: {adenoidal, pinched, nasal}; {altissimo}; {alto}; {countertenor, alto}; {falsetto}; {peaky, spiky}; {piping}; {shrill, sharp}; {screaky, screechy, squeaking, squeaky, squealing}; {soprano, treble}; {sopranino}; {tenor}]
2. set at a sharp or high angle or slant; as, a high-pitched roof.
Syn: steeply pitched, steep. [WordNet 1.5]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: (of a musical instrument) intermediate between alto and baritone or bass; "a tenor sax"
2: of or close in range to the highest natural adult male voice; "tenor voice"
noun
1: the adult male singing voice above baritone [syn: {tenor voice}]
2: the pitch range of the highest male voice
3: an adult male with a tenor voice
4: pervading note of an utterance; "I could follow the general tenor of his argument" [syn: {strain}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
263 Moby Thesaurus words for "tenor": Heldentenor, Meistersinger, Zeitgeist, accompaniment, affective meaning, aim, alto, apograph, aria singer, azimuth, baritenor, baritone, bass, basso, basso buffo, basso cantante, basso continuo, basso ostinato, basso profundo, bassus, bearing, bent, bias, blues singer, body, body-build, brand, bravura, canary, cantatrice, canto, cantor, cantus, cantus figuratus, cantus planus, carbon, carbon copy, caroler, cast, chanter, chantress, character, characteristic, characteristics, choral, choric, coloratura, coloratura soprano, coloring, comic bass, complexion, composition, connotation, consequence, constituents, constitution, continuo, contralto, core, countertenor, course, crasis, crooner, current, deep bass, denotation, descant, dharma, diathesis, direction, direction line, disposition, diva, dramatic, dramatic soprano, drift, drone, effect, essence, ethos, extension, falsetto, fashion, fiber, fiche, figured bass, force, form, frame, genius, gist, glacial movement, grain, grammatical meaning, ground bass, guise, habit, head register, head tone, head voice, heading, helmsmanship, heroic, heroic tenor, high, high-pitched, high-sounding, high-toned, hue, humor, humors, hymnal, hymner, idea, ilk, impact, implication, import, improvisator, inclination, inference, intension, intent, kind, lay, lead singer, lexical meaning, lie, lieder singer, line, line of direction, line of march, literal meaning, liturgical, lyric, main current, mainstream, makeup, male alto, manifold, manner, meaning, meat, melodist, mezzo-soprano, microcopy, microfiche, microform, mode, mold, mood, motion, movement, nature, navigation, opera singer, operatic, orientation, overtone, part, pertinence, physique, piloting, pith, plain chant, plain song, point, practical consequence, prick song, prima donna, property, psalm singer, psalmic, psalmodial, psalmodic, purport, purpose, quality, quarter, range, range of meaning, real meaning, recording, reference, referent, relation, relevance, rock-and-roll singer, rubbing, run, sacred, scope, semantic cluster, semantic field, sense, set, shape, significance, signification, significatum, signifie, singer, singing, singstress, somatotype, songbird, songster, songstress, soprano, sort, span of meaning, spirit, stamp, steerage, steering, streak, stream, stripe, structural meaning, stuff, style, substance, suchness, sum, sum and substance, swing, symbolic meaning, system, temper, temperament, tendency, the general tendency, the main course, theme, thorough bass, thread, time spirit, tone, torch singer, totality of associations, tracing, track, transcript, transcription, transfer, transferred meaning, treble, trend, turn, type, unadorned meaning, undersong, undertone, value, vein, vocal, vocalist, vocalizer, voice, voice part, warbler, way, yodeler
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