| 释义 |
▪ I. tenor, n.1 (a.)|ˈtɛnə(r)|
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.]
A. n.
I.
1. a. 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.
a1300Cursor 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. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 35 Þe tenor of his laws was suche. 1413–22Marg. of Anjou Lett. (Camden) 22 Youre gracieux letters of prive seal, the teneur of the which we have wel understand. 1526Tindale Acts viii. 32 The tener off the scripture which he redde was this. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 355 This wes the tennour that tyme of thair band. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. ii. 216 Hee..receiues letters of strange tenor. 1664H. More Myst. Iniq. 112 This is the tenour of the New Covenant. 1703Lond. Gaz. No. 3953/1 (Scotl.) Act for proving the Tenor in Favours of Anna Cockburn. 1825Jefferson Autobiog. Wks. 1859 I. 10 The tenor of these propositions being generally known. 1838W. 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. 1870L'Estrange Miss Mitford I. i. 20 Such was the general tenour of Mrs. Mitford's letters.
β [1292Britton 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. 1427Rolls of Parlt. IV. 332/2 Ayeins the teneure and forme of the saide Statutes. 1512Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 11 Certen Indentures wherof the tenure hereafter ensuyth. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 235 Bid me teare the bond. Iew. When it is paid according to the tenure. 1682Lond. 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.
c1450Godstow Reg. 366 Even as hit apperith of submyssions of the same parties, Tenouris of the which folow bynethe. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxii. 257 Than he shall delyuer to vs a tenour of that he ought to do. 1588Lambarde Eiren. iv. xviii. 591 Sometimes they are to certifie and send vp onely a Tenor (or Transcript) as I sayd, of the Record. 1842S. 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.
1740W. Douglass Disc. Curr. Brit. Plant. Amer. 40 All bills of the old Tenor when brought into their Treasury, to issue out no more. 1811J. Adams Wks. (1854) IX. 638 It is worse than old tenor, continental currency, or any other paper money. 1878F. 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.
d. The underlying idea or subject to which a metaphor refers, as distinct from the literal meaning of the words used. Cf. vehicle n. 3 d.
1936I. A. Richards Philos. Rhet. v. 96 A first step is to introduce two technical terms to assist us in distinguishing..what Dr. Johnson called the two ideas that any metaphor, at its simplest, gives us. Let me call them the tenor and the vehicle. The tenor, as I am calling it—[is] the underlying idea or principal subject which the vehicle or figure means. Ibid. 100 The tenor may become almost a mere excuse for the introduction of the vehicle, and so no longer be ‘the principal subject’. 1949Poetry (Chicago) Feb. 304 The tenor is the new meaning, the vehicle the old meaning on which the new meaning is conveyed. 1962S. Ullmann Semantics viii. 213 An important factor in the effectiveness of a metaphor is the distance between tenor and vehicle. 1973A. Rodway in R. Fowler Dict. Mod. Crit. Terms 112 In the phrase ‘Now is the winter of our discontent’..discontentedness is the tenor, and an aspect of winter..the vehicle. 1980G. B. Caird Lang. & Imagery of Bible viii. 152 In a living metaphor, although both speaker and hearer are aware that vehicle and tenor are distinct entities, they are not grasped as two but as one.
2.
†a. The action or fact of holding on or continuing; continuance, duration. Obs.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. i. (Bodl. MS.), Þe age is of a man notȝ elles is but tenour and during of kinde vertues. 1502Ord. 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. 1621Burton 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. a1694Tillotson 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.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. ii. (Tollem. MS.), Heuen with his roundnesse and cerclis forsakeþ nouȝt, noþer leueþ þe sadde tenor of his ordre. 1596Spenser F.Q. iv. vii. 47 Ne ought mote make him change his wonted tenor. 1676Hale Contempl. i. 400 The constant tenour of a just, virtuous, and pious life. 1750Gray Elegy 76 Along the cool sequester'd vale of life They kept the noiseless tenour of their way. 1784Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 26 June, Of doing good a continual tenour of distress allowed him few opportunities. 1814Cary Dante's Inf. x. 133 She of thy life The future tenour will to thee unfold. 1865Seeley Ecce Homo iv. (ed. 8) 29 The contrast between Christ's pretensions and the homely tenour of his life.
β1720W. 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.
1866Crump 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.
1530Palsgr. 47 The redar shall sounde them all under one tenour, and never rest upon them nor lyft up his voice. 1595Spenser Epithal. 9 Your string could soone to sadder tenor turne. 1618Bp. Hall Serm. v. 103 There can be no harmony, where all the strings or voices are of one tenor. 1725Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Elm, The Tenor of the Grain makes it also fit for all Kinds of Carved-Work. 1729G. 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.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. v. (Arb.) 163 No fault or blemish, to confound the tennors of the stiles for that cause. 1697Dryden æneid xii. 305 Nor shake the steadfast tenour of my Mind. 1756Burke Subl. & B. ii. viii, The senses, strongly affected in some one manner, cannot quickly change their tenour. 1831Carlyle 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 alloted to this part.
1388[see counter-tenor 1 b]. c1430Lydg. Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 54 Treble meene and tenor discordyng as I gesse. c1460Wisdom 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! 1530Palsgr. 280/1 Tenour a parte in pricke songe, teneur. 1597Morley 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. 1638–56Cowley Davideis i. Wks. (1669) 13 Water and Air he for the Tenor chose, Earth made the Base, the Treble Flame arose. a1791Wesley Wks. (1872) VIII. 319 When they [singers] would teach a tune to the congregation, they must sing only the tenor. 1873Hale 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.
c1475Sqr. lowe Degre 782 Than shall ye go to your euensong, With tenours and trebles a mong. 1552Huloet, Tenor, or he that singeth a tenor, succentor. 1616Cheque Bk. Chapel Royal (Camden) 9 The next place that shall..fall voyd by the deathe of any tenor. 1821Byron Juan iv. lxxxvii, The tenor's voice is spoilt by affectation. 1884F. 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.
1541Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 7 Payde..for mendynge the whele of ye secounde tenor..ij d. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 186 Which string..wouldst thou..harpe on. Not the base..Nor the standyng tennor... Nor the counter tennor. a1627Middleton Mayor Queenb. v. i, Let the Bells ring... 'Las the Tenor's broken, ring out the Treble. 1909Daily 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.
1785Daily Universal Register 1 Jan. 3/2 (Advt.), Mr. Giardini's capital old Violins, Tenors, and Violoncellos for sale. 1833[see alto n.2 5]. 1836Dubourg Violin i. (1878) 11 The tenor, or viol da braccia, was larger than the modern tenor, or viola. 1883H. R. Haweis in Gentl. Mag. July 48 He learns the violon⁓cello or tenor. 1884Girl's Own Paper Nov. 21/2 The viola is sometimes called the tenor, but the former is the preferable name.
e. ellipt. for tenor saxophone, sense B. 1 below.
1876[see alto n.2 6]. 1927Melody Maker Aug. 738 (Advt.), The manufacturers..have been hailed as the saviours of Tenor Saxophonists through their innovation of the astounding B♭ tenor with the extra automatic octave note. 1952[see baritone]. 1975[see saxist].
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 banjo: see banjo 1; 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 clarinet, an alto clarinet pitched in F; also, one who plays this instrument; tenor clef, the C clef when placed upon the fourth line of the stave; tenor cor: see cor3; tenor drum: see drum n.1 1 b; tenor horn = althorn; tenor sax, tenor saxophone, a member of the saxophone family intermediate between the alto and the baritone, usu. pitched in B flat; also, one who plays this instrument; hence tenor saxist, tenor sax-man, tenor saxophonist; tenor violin († tenor viol), the viola.
1522MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., For a bawdryk to the tenoure bell. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. i. 21 In the Tenor part of the Gloria of his Masse Aue Maris stella. 1609B. Jonson Masque Queenes Wks. (1616) 964 That most excellent tenor voyce. 1662Playford Skill Mus. (1674) 99 The Tenor-Viol is an excellent inward Part. a1670Hacket Abp. Williams ii. §33 (1693) 30 The Bishop himself bearing the Tenour part among them often. 1802Tenor violin [see alto- 1]. 1806J. W. Callcott Mus. Gram. ii. 10 The Tenor Clef is used for the middle voices of men. 1838–9F. A. Kemble Resid. Georgia (1863) 127 Their voices seem oftener tenor than any other quality. 1859, etc. Tenor horn [see althorn]. 1865C. Mandel Mandel's Syst. Mus. xvi. 68 There are various kinds of Saxophones. The smallest, or Soprano Saxophone, is in B flat... The..Tenor Saxophone is an octave lower than the Soprano Saxophone. 1879Grove Dict. Mus. I. 362/2 In F we have the tenor clarinet. 1926Whiteman & McBride Jazz ix. 193 We have computed..that one tenor saxophone equals eight violas. 1927Tenor saxophonist [see sense 4 e]. 1934S. R. Nelson All about Jazz vi. 127 A brilliant tenor sax was unmistakable. 1938D. Baker Young Man with Horn i. iv. 28 There were five men in Jeff's band—a tenor clarinet, a trombone, a trumpet, traps, and a piano. 1954Grove's Dict. Mus. (ed. 5) II. 326/2 The higher-pitched of the two [alto clarinets] was long known as the ‘tenor clarinet’ in England. Ibid. VIII. 809/1 The true Tenor Violin was the alto of the viola da braccio family... The gradual suppression of this instrument in the 18th century was a disaster: neither the lower register of the viola nor the upper register of the violoncello can give its effect. 1954, etc. Tenor saxophone [see saxophone n. 1]. 1955Keepnews & Grauer Pict. Hist. Jazz x. 110 Key members included tenor sax Andy Brown. 1955Tenor saxist [see bassist 2]. 1955Tenor sax-man [see sax-man s.v. sax n.2 3]. 1958T. Hall in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz xix. 229 He was mainly featured on an E-flat tenor-horn, which produced a mellophone-like sound. 1963Listener 7 Feb. 264/1 Two virtuoso tenor sax players. 1972Guardian 4 Feb. 10/5 No one strove harder than the tenor saxist John Coltrane. 1979Country Life 12 July 95/2 A..solo by tenor saxophonist Steve Marcus. 1979Listener 4 Oct. 461/3 Charlie Parker..plays tenor-sax on the Miles Davis set.
2. Comb., as (sense 4 d) tenor-maker, (4 e) tenor-man, tenor player, tenor solo, tenor soloist, tenor style, (4 c) tenor-wheel.
1648–9in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 219 Mending y⊇ Tenor Wheele—1 s. 1836Dubourg Violin ix. (1878) 266 Martin Hoffman and Hunger, both of Leipsic, were excellent tenor-makers. 1928Melody Maker Feb. 201/2 Quite a few successful tenor players. 1935Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Nov. 38/2 Tenor-men like Hawkins or Fletcher Henderson, are stars in the hot sky. 1943P. E. Miller Yearbk. Popular Music 8/2 He borrowed a tenor from a fellow musician, sat in on a jam session, and from that point forward became a hot tenorman. 1958R. Horricks in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz ix. 118 The prominent tenor soloists outshone even those of the New York scene. 1959‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene ii. 35 A fine tenor player in the Parker tradition. 1962Melody Maker 21 July 7/3 The perfect tenor style for Dixieland jazz. 1966Crescendo Dec. 9/2 Good clarinet, trumpet and tenor solos. 1977J. Wainwright Do Nothin' viii. 125 Tenor men are not that hard to find.
Hence tenor v.1 intr. (with it), to sing tenor; ˈtenoring ppl. a.; also ˈtenorless a., having no tenor or purport.
1893Scribner's Mag. XIV. 61 A tame cornet tenored it throatily Of beer-pots and spittoons. 1810Bentham Packing (1821) 265 The purely conjectural, tenorless, uncognoscible, and impostrous state of unwritten, alias common law. 1905H. G. Wells Mod. Utopia iv. 127 It is not only such gross and palpable cases as our blond and tenoring friend. 1930― Autocr. Mr. Parham ii. iii. 119 ‘But,’ said Mr. Mountain in tenoring remonstrance to Sir Bussy, ‘doesn't this evening satisfy you, sir?’ 1934― Exper. Autobiogr. II. viii. 602 Bland was a thick-set, broad-faced aggressive man..with a tenoring voice.
▪ II. tenor, n.2 Now dial.
Also 5 tenowre, 8–9 tenner.
Corrupted form of tenon n.1 tenor-saw = tenon-saw. Hence tenor v.2 = tenon v.
a1485Promp. Parv. MS. S. (1908) 476 Tenowre, knytting of a balk or odyre lyk tymbre, cenaculum. 1747Hooson Miner's Dict. Q iij, Instead of a Collar made on the Forks, we make Tenners, so that the Forks are Tennered at both ends, and the Sliders are Slotted at both Ends to receive the Forks. 1851W. Anderson Rhymes (1867) 116 (E.D.D.) You're just as rough's a tenor saw. 1877N.W. Linc. Gloss., Tenner, a tenon.
▪ III. tenor
obs. form of tenure. |