Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “tenor” come from?

Tenor comes from Middle English tenour, from Anglo-Norman tenour, from Latin tenor, the noun form of teneo meaning to hold or maintain.

tenor (English): A musical range or section higher than bass and...

Definitions

  1. A musical range or section higher than bass and...

Ancestry of “tenor”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishtenourThe intended message or purpose of something;...
2Anglo-NormantenourAlternative form of tenor; Alternative form of...
3Old Frenchtenorholder; possessor; possession; content
4Latintenora holding on, continuance, course, career,...
5Latin-orused to form a third-declension masculine...
6Proto-Italic-ōsCreates masculine action nouns or result nouns...
7Proto-Indo-European-ōsCreates masculine and feminine action nouns or...
8Proto-Indo-European-oss—
9Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “tenor”

  • countertenor
  • tenorist
  • tenorial
  • テナー
  • カウンターテナー
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →