Also 4 tenur, 4–6 -oure, 4–9 -our, 5 -owre, -eur, 6 -ore, -er, tennour, (teanor), 6–7 tennor, 7 tenner. β. 4–8 tenure (5 teneure). [a. OF. tenor, -our, 13th c. (also tenoire, -eure, -ure, 13–14th c.), mod.F. teneur fem., substance, import of a document, etc.:—L. tenōr-em course, import (of a law, etc.), f. tenēre to hold. The musical term was in 14–15th c. F. tenor masc. and fem., ‘a tenor part, voice, or singer,’ mod.F. ténor masc., after It. tenore and med.L. tenor, to which also the English word in all senses has been conformed. Confusion with TENURE prevailed from 13th to 18th c.: see β.]
I. 1. The course of meaning which holds on or continues through something written or spoken; the general sense or meaning of a document, speech, etc.; substance, purport, import, effect, drift.
In technical legal use (as in Fr.) implying the actual wording of a document, or a transcript thereof (distinguished from effect): cf. b. Proving of the tenor (Sc. Law): see quot. 1838.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 17614 Þai did þan for to write a writt, Þis þan was þe tenur of hit.
13[?]. K. Alis., 2977. Anothir lettre he sent heom tho, And of a more bitter tenour.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 35. Þe tenor of his laws was suche.
1413–22. Marg. of Anjou, Lett. (Camden), 22. Youre gracieux letters of prive seal, the teneur of the which we have wel understand.
1526. Tindale, Acts viii. 32. The tener off the scripture which he redde was this.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot. (Rolls), II. 355. This wes the tennour that tyme of thair band.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., IV. ii. 216. Hee … receiues letters of strange tenor.
1664. H. More, Myst. Iniq., 112. This is the tenour of the New Covenant.
1703. Lond. Gaz., No. 3953/1 (Scotl.). Act for proving the Tenor in Favours of Anna Cockburn.
1779–81. Johnson, L. P., Fenton, III. 113. The tenor of his verse is so uniform that it cannot be thought casual; and yet upon what principle he so constructed it, is difficult to discover.
1825. Jefferson, Autobiog., Wks. 1859, I. 10. The tenor of these propositions being generally known.
1838. W. Bell, Dict. Law Scot., s.v. Proving, The terms of a deed which has been lost or destroyed may be proved in an action peculiar to the Court of Session, called an action of proving the tenor.
1870. L’Estrange, Miss Mitford, I. i. 20. Such was the general tenour of Mrs. Mitford’s letters.
β. [1292. Britton, VI. iv. § 9. Solom la tenure del Pone (tr. according to the tenor of the Pone).]
13[?]. K. Alis., 1707 (Bodl. MS.). A letter par amoure Of whiche swiche was þe tenure.
1427. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 332/2. Ayeins the teneure and forme of the saide Statutes.
1512. Act 4 Hen. VIII., c. 11. Certen Indentures wherof the tenure hereafter ensuyth.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., IV. i. 235. Bid me teare the bond. Iew. When it is paid according to the tenure.
1682. Lond. Gaz., No. 1733/4. According to the Tenure of his Majesties Letters Patents.
b. concr. An exact copy of a document, a transcript. (In quot. 1523, a written statement.) Now techn.: see prec. sense.
c. 1450. Godstow Reg., 366. Even as hit apperith of submyssions of the same parties, Tenouris of the which folow bynethe.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. ccxii. 257. Than he shall delyuer to vs a tenour of that he ought to do.
1588. Lambarde, Eiren., IV. xviii. 591. Sometimes they are to certifie and send vp onely a Tenor (or Transcript) as I sayd, of the Record.
1842. S. Greenleaf, Evidence (1844), I. § 502. 575. In such cases, nothing is returned but the tenor, that is, a literal transcript of the record, under the seal of the Court.
c. The value of a bank note or bill as stated on it: in phr. old tenor, middle tenor, new tenor, referring to the successive issues of paper currency in the colonies of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the 18th c. Hist.
1740. W. Douglass, Disc. Curr. Brit. Plant. Amer., 40. All Bills of the old Tenor when brought into their Treasury, to issue out no more.
1811. J. Adams, Wks. (1854), IX. 638. It is worse than old tenor, continental currency, or any other paper money.
1878. F. A. Walker, Money, xv. 319. In 1741 the Assembly made 6s. 9d. of the new-tenor equal to 27 shillings of the old. Ibid., 320. By act of 1770, the old-tenor notes were to be exchanged at this rate.
2. † a. The action or fact of holding on or continuing; continuance, duration. Obs.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VI. i. (Bodl. MS.). Þe age is of a man notȝ elles is but tenour and during of kinde vertues.
1502. Ord. Crysten Men, V. iv. (1506), 393. The melodye of the glorye of the blessyd shall not haue tenoure yf the paynes of the dampned were not eternall.
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., I. i. I. v. (1651), 12. ’Tis most absurd … for any mortal man to look for a perpetual tenor of happiness in his life.
a. 1694. Tillotson, Serm. (1742), IV. 539. Let not a perpetual tenor of health and pleasure soften and dissolve your spirits.
b. Continuous progress, course, movement (of action, etc.); way of proceeding, procedure.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VIII. ii. (Tollem. MS.). Heuen with his roundnesse and cerclis forsakeþ nouȝt, noþer leueþ þe sadde tenor of his ordre.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., IV. vii. 47. Ne ought mote make him change his wonted tenor.
1676. Hale, Contempl., I. 400. The constant tenour of a just, virtuous, and pious life.
1750. Gray, Elegy, 76. Along the cool sequester’d vale of life They kept the noiseless tenour of their way.
1784. Johnson, Lett. to Mrs. Thrale, 26 June. Of doing good a continual tenour of distress allowed him few opportunities.
1814. Cary, Dante’s Inf., X. 133. She of thy life The future tenour will to thee unfold.
1865. Seeley, Ecce Homo, iv. (ed. 8), 29. The contrast between Christ’s pretensions and the homely tenour of his life.
β. 1720. W. Gibson, Diet. Horses, xii. (1731), 185. A continued easy Motion, and constant Tenure in Feeding.
c. The length of time that a bill is drawn to run before presentation for payment.
1866. Crump, Banking, v. 100. The tenor [of foreign bills] … depends upon a variety of circumstances, and may be extended to almost any period, provided the parties thereto are agreed. Ibid., 101. The term ‘usance’ … denotes the customary tenor at which bills are drawn.
3. Quality, character, nature; condition, state.
† a. in physical sense; in early use esp. quality of tone (cf. 4). Obs.
1530. Palsgr., 47. The redar shall sounde them all under one tenour, and never rest upon them nor lyft up his voice.
1595. Spenser, Epithal., 9. Your string could soone to sadder tenor turne.
1618. Bp. Hall, Serm., v. 103. There can be no harmony, where all the strings or voices are of one tenor.
1725. Bradley’s Fam. Dict., s.v. Elm, The Tenor of the Grain makes it also fit for all kinds of Carved-Work.
1729. Shelvocke, Artillery, II. 90. The Air in them must be of the same Tenor with the circumambient Air.
b. in non-physical sense: the way in which a thing continues; esp. habitual condition of mind. Now rare or merged in 2 b.
1589. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, III. v. (Arb.), 163. No fault or blemish, to confound the tennors of the stiles for that cause.
1697. Dryden, Æneid, XII. 305. Nor shake the steadfast tenour of my Mind.
1756. Burke, Subl. & B., II. viii. The senses, strongly affected in some one manner, cannot quickly change their tenour.
1831. Carlyle, Misc. (1857), II. 190. Spiritual, of calm tenour.
II. 4. Mus. a. The adult male voice intermediate between the bass and the counter-tenor or alto, usually ranging from the octave below middle C to the A above it; also, the part sung by such a voice, being the next above the bass in vocal part-music.
So called app. because the melody or canto fermo was formerly allotted to this part.
1388. [see COUNTER-TENOR 1 b].
c. 1430. Lydg., Minor Poems (Percy Soc.), 54. Treble meene and tenor discordyng as I gesse.
c. 1460. Wisdom, 620, in Macro Plays, 55. Mynde. A tenowur to yow bothe I brynge;… Wyll. And, but a trebull I owt wrynge, The deuell hym spede, þat myrthe exyled!
1530. Palsgr., 280/1. Tenour a parte in pricke songe, teneur.
1597. Morley, Introd. Mus., II. 100. You haue your plainsong changed from parte to part, firste in the treble, next in the tenor, lastlie in the base.
1638–56. Cowley, Davideis, I. Wks. (1669), 13. Water and Air he for the Tenor chose, Earth made the Base, the Treble Flame arose.
a. 1791. Wesley, Wks. (1872), VIII. 319. When they [singers] would teach a tune to the congregation, they must sing only the tenor.
1873. Hale, In His Name, vi. 49. The voice was a perfectly clear and pure tenor.
b. A singer with a tenor voice; one who sings the tenor part; a tenor singer.
c. 1475[?]. Sqr. lowe Degre, 782. Than shall ye go to your euensong, With tenours and trebles a mong.
1552. Huloet, Tenor, or he that singeth a tenor, succentor.
1616. Cheque Bk. Chapel Royal (Camden), 9. The next place that shall … fall voyd by the deathe of any tenor.
1821. Byron, Juan, IV. lxxxvii. The tenor’s voice is spoilt by affectation.
1884. F. M. Crawford, Rom. Singer, i. He asked me if I would not let him educate that young tenor.
c. = Tenor bell: see B. 1. Second tenor (quot. 1541), the next bell to the tenor. Also (quot. 1562) applied to a string of tenor pitch in an instrument, as a harp.
1541. Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden), 7. Payde … for mendynge the whele of ye secounde tenor … ij d.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 186. Which string … wouldst thou … harpe on. Not the base … Nor the standyng tennor…. Nor the counter tennor.
a. 1627. Middleton, Mayor Queenb., V. i. Let the Bells ring…. ’Las the Tenor’s broken, ring out the Treble.
1909. Daily Chron., 1 Oct., 7/2. The present ‘tenor,’ as the deepest bell of a peal is always called, was cast here in 1738.
d. A name for the tenor violin or VIOLA.
1836. Dubourg, Violin, i. (1878), 11. The tenor, or viol da braccia, was larger than the modern tenor, or viola.
1883. H. R. Haweis, in Gentl. Mag., July, 48. He learns the violon-cello or tenor.
1884. Girl’s Own Paper, Nov., 21/2. The viola is sometimes called the tenor, but the former is the preferable name.
b. attrib. or adj., and Comb. (in sense 4 above).
1. attrib. or adj. Applied to a voice, part, instrument, string, etc., of the pitch described in sense 4 above, or intermediate between bass and alto.
Tenor bell, the largest bell of a peal or set. Tenor C, the note an octave below middle C, being the lowest note of a tenor voice. Tenor clef, the C clef when placed upon the fourth line of the stave. Tenor violin († viol), the viola.
1522. MS. Acc. St. John’s Hosp., Canterb. For a bawdryk to the tenoure bell.
1597. Morley, Introd. Mus., I. 21. In the Tenor part of the Gloria of his Masse Aue Maris stella.
1609. B. Jonson, Masque Queenes, Wks. (1616), 964. That most excellent tenor voyce.
1662. Playford, Skill Mus. (1674), 99. The Tenor-Viol is an excellent inward Part.
a. 1670. Hacket, Abp. Williams, II. § 33 (1693), 30. The Bishop himself bearing the Tenour part among them often.
1806. Callcott, Mus. Gram., ii. 10. The Tenor Clef is used for the middle voices of men.
1838–9. Fr. A. Kemble, Resid. Georgia (1863), 127. Their voices seem oftener tenor than any other quality.
2. Comb., as tenor-maker (sense 4 d), -wheel (4 c).
1648–9. in Swayne, Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896), 219. Mending ye Tenor Wheele—1 s.
1836. Dubourg, Violin, ix. (1878), 266. Martin Hoffman and Hunger, both of Leipsic, were excellent tenor-makers.
Hence Tenor v.1 intr. (with it), to sing tenor; Tenorless a., having no tenor or purport.
1893. Scribner’s Mag., XIV. 61. A tame cornet tenored it throatily Of beer-pots and spittoons.
1810. Bentham, Packing (1821), 265. The purely conjectural, tenorless, uncognoscible, and impostrous state of unwritten, alias common law.
