The Tenor Once Held the Tune
A tenor is a high male singing voice. The name comes from the part that held the main melody in early polyphony.
A tenor is the highest ordinary male singing voice, and also the general sense or drift of something. The name is a job description: in medieval polyphony the tenor part *held* the existing melody while other voices moved around it, from Latin *tenere*, to hold. The voice type took its name from the function. That same holding sense gives the other meaning — the *tenor* of a speech is the thread running through it, what it holds to.
- A high male voice. *A lyric tenor.*
- General drift. *The tenor of the debate.*
- Tenor saxophone. *A tenor sax.*
- Latin — *tenere*, to hold. *The source.*
- Cantus firmus — the held melody. *Cantus firmus.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | tenor | A tenor. |
| Plural | tenors | Tenors. |
| Adjective | tenor | Tenor voice. |
| Latin | tenere | To hold. |
| Related | tenure | Tenure. |
- The tenor sang the aria.Voice.
- The tenor of the meeting was hostile.Drift.
- Tenere means to hold.Etymology.
The tenere family
- Tenor — the part that holds the melody
- Tenure — the holding of an office or property
- Tenacious — holding on firmly
- Contain — to hold together
- Retain — to hold back
Old French *tenour*, from Latin *tenor*, an uninterrupted course, from *tenere*, to hold.
Why is the voice called a tenor?
In medieval polyphony the tenor part held the existing melody while other voices moved around it, from Latin tenere, to hold.
What does the tenor of a remark mean?
Its general sense or drift, the thread it holds to, from the same idea of holding a consistent course.