LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinethird declension

tenor

tenor m (genitive tenōris)
Classical[ˈtɛ.nɔr]Ecclesiastical[ˈtɛː.nor]

Meaning

  1. masculinea sustained, continuous course or movement, a continuity of events, conditions etc. or way of proceeding
  2. masculinea line of reasoning, point, gist of an utterance in so far as it decides legal questions whether individually or generally, a provision (either its wording or its meaning)
  3. masculinea tone (of sound or color); stress (of the voice)
  4. Medieval Latinmasculinea seisin

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativetenortenōrēs
genitivetenōristenōrum
dativetenōrītenōribus
accusativetenōremtenōrēs
ablativetenōretenōribus
vocativetenortenōrēs

tĕnor, ōris, m. teneo, II. B.,
I. a holding on, holding fast; hence, an uninterrupted course, career, tenor (mostly post-Aug.; cf.: cursus, ordo).
I. In gen.: hasta fugit servatque cruenta tenorem, keeps its course, Verg. A. 10, 340: (aulaea) placido educta tenore Tota patent, by a steady motion, Ov. M. 3, 113: hic tibi versandus tenor est, id. A. A. 2, 729: interrumpere tenorem rerum, Liv. 41, 15, 7: pugnae, id. 8, 38, 11: tenorem pugnae servabant, id. 30, 18: tenor vitae, Ov. H. 17, 14; Liv. 40, 12, 7: fati, Ov. H. 7, 112: eundem tenorem servare, Col. Arb. 2, 2: unus tenor algoris aestūsve, Plin. 14, 2, 4, § 27: eodem tenore duo insequentes consulatus gessi, Liv. 7, 40, 9; cf.: eodem consiliorum tenore, id. 22, 15, 1: uno et perpetuo tenore juris semper usurpato, numquam intermisso, id. 35, 16; austeritatis (in smaragdis), Plin. 37, 5, 18, § 67: tenorem in narrationibus servant, connection, Quint. 10, 7, 6: cum quantum, quale interrogantes gravi, comparantes acuto tenore concludunt, i. e. tone, accent, id. 1, 5, 26; cf. in plur.: adhuc difficilior observatio est per tenores vel accentus, id. 1, 5, 22; cf. § 26: vel heroos gressu truncare tenores, i. e. mingle pentameters with heroic verses, Stat. S. 5, 3, 99.—
B. Adverb.: uno tenore, in one course or direction, uninterruptedly, uniformly: isque (stilus medius) uno tenore, ut aiunt, in dicendo fluit, * Cic. Or. 6, 21: brevis profecto res est, si uno tenore peragitur, Liv. 5, 5, 7: uno tenore fidem colere, id. 22, 37, 10: tenore uno in mediam aciem illati, id. 22, 47, 6; cf.: hi mores eaque caritas patriae per omnes ordines velut tenore uno pertinebat, id. 23, 49, 3: so, uno velut tenore, id. 2, 42, 8.—
II. In partic., in the later jurid. lang., the connection, contents, sense, tenor of a law: pro tenore legis Aquiliae, Dig. 9, 2, 56: pro tenore S C Claudiani, Paul. Sent. 2, 21, 18: auctorum verba emendare tenore sententiae perseverante, non est prohibitum, Dig. 42, 1, 46.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ten-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*tn̥eh₁yéti
  3. Proto-Italic*tenēō
  4. Latintenor

Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *-ōs Proto-Italic *-ōs Latin -or Latin tenor From teneō (“to hold”) + -or (“abstract noun suffix”).

Descendants
  • Catalantenor
  • Frenchteneurfrom Old French tenor
  • Frenchténorfrom Old French tenor
  • Englishtenorfrom Old French tenor
  • GermanTenor
  • Italiantenore
  • Portuguesetenorfrom Italian tenore
  • Portugueseteor
  • Spanishtenor
  • Dutchteneurfrom Old French tenor

In English words that came into English from tenor

  • tenortenor

Quick answers

What does tenor mean in Latin?
tenor, a noun, means “a sustained, continuous course or movement, a continuity of events, conditions etc. or way of proceeding; a line of reasoning, point, gist of an utterance in so far as it decides legal questions whether individually or g”.
What is the genitive of tenor?
The genitive singular is tenōris. tenor is masculine, third declension.
How do you pronounce tenor?
In classical Latin, [ˈtɛ.nɔr]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈtɛː.nor].
Where does tenor come from?
Proto-Indo-European *ten- → Proto-Indo-European *tn̥eh₁yéti → Proto-Italic *tenēō → Latin tenor.