a. and adv. Mus. [It., = held.] Held, sustained: a direction to a performer to sustain a note its full length. Usually abbreviated ten.
1903. T. Matthay, The Act of Touch, xxiii.–xxiv. To obtain TENUTO, we must rest continuously upon the key-board with sufficient weight, to compel the finger and hand slightly to continue their work upon the key beyond the moment of sound-emission.
