01 n. A state of holding on in a continuous course; manner of continuity; constant mode; general tendency; course; career.
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1.
A state of holding on in a continuous course; manner of continuity; constant mode; general tendency; course; career.“Along the cool sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their away.” — Gray.
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2.
That course of thought which holds on through a discourse; the general drift or course of thought; purport; intent; meaning; understanding.“When it [the bond] is paid according to the tenor.” — Shak.“Does not the whole tenor of the divine law positively require humility and meekness to all men?” — Spart.
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3.
Stamp; character; nature.“This success would look like chance, if it were perpetual, and always of the same tenor.” — Dryden.
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4.
An exact copy of a writing, set forth in the words and figures of it. It differs from purport, which is only the substance or general import of the instrument.(Law)
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5.
The higher of the two kinds of voices usually belonging to adult males; hence, the part in the harmony adapted to this voice; the second of the four parts in the scale of sounds, reckoning from the base, and originally the air, to which the other parts were auxillary.(Mus.)
Phrases & compounds
Old Tenor —
different descriptions of paper money, issued at different periods, by the American colonial governments in the last century.