tenour

English

Noun

tenour (plural tenours)

  1. Archaic spelling of tenor.
    • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (5th ed.), page 48
      Our political ſyſtem is placed in a juſt correſpondence and ſymmetry with the order of the world, and with the mode of exiſtence decreed to a permanent body compoſed of tranſitory parts; wherein, by the diſpoſition of a ſtupendous wiſdom, moulding together the great myſterious incorporation of the human race, the whole, at one time, is never old, or middle-aged, or young, but in a condition of unchangeable conſtancy, moves on through the varied tenour of perpetual decay, fall, renovation, and progreſſion.
    • 1790, Adam Smith, “Of the Beauty which the Appearance of Utility Bestows upon the Charactes and Actions of Men; []”, in The Theory of Moral Sentiments; [] In Two Volumes, volume I, 6th edition, London: Printed for A[ndrew] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell []; Edinburgh: W[illiam] Creech, and J. Bell & Co., OCLC 723510352, part IV (Of the Effect of Utility upon the Sentiment of Approbation), page 481:
      It is the conſciouſneſs of this merited approbation and eſteem which is alone capable of ſupporting the agent in this tenour of conduct.

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman tenour, from Latin tenor.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tɛˈnuːr/, /tɛˈniu̯r/, /ˈtɛnur/

Noun

tenour (plural tenours)

  1. The (primary) intended message or purpose of something
  2. The tone or character of something; the tenor of something.
  3. The relevant and purposeful content of a directive.
  4. An abstract; a summation of a document or directive.
  5. (music) The primary musical section (tending to be the tenor)
  6. (rare) Constancy or permanence of effect or direction.
  7. (music, rare) A pitch as a basis for finding out pitch difference.
  8. (music, rare) Something's vocal or musical characteristics.

Descendants

References


Old French

Noun

tenour m (oblique plural tenours, nominative singular tenours, nominative plural tenour)

  1. (Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of tenor (possessor)

Noun

tenour f (oblique plural tenours, nominative singular tenour, nominative plural tenours)

  1. (Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of teneure (tenure)
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.