tenor

Forms

tenor m (genitive tenōris); third declension^[1] Quintilian cites ton- from old writers.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin teneō (“to hold”) + -or.^[2][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of teneō, which he traces to Proto-Italic *t(e)nē- and Proto-Indo-European *tn̥-eh₁- (“to hold”), a stative present of the root *ten- "to stretch".^[3] He compares Sanskrit तनोति (tanóti, “to stretch, extend”) and Ancient Greek τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”).^[3] Quintilian reports that old writers had a form ⟨tonor⟩, which he derived from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “tension, tone”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro, who uses it of the even, regulated course of the sun and moon.^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The basic idea is holding on, an uninterrupted course: in Virgil a spear keeps its course.^[5] Cicero says of a speaker that he flows on in a single, unbroken course, ⟨ūnō tenōre⟩.^[2] Livy writes of five consulships held in the same way, and Pliny the Elder uses it of continuous conditions and an even appearance.^[2] In legal texts it is the line taken by a document, as in Papinian.^[2] Quintilian uses it of the tone or stress of the voice, and Manilius of a shade of colour.^[2] Lewis & Short call it mostly post-Augustan.^[5] In medieval Latin it is the wording or contents of a document, a stipulation, a way or ground, the keeping of a rule, and seisin.^[6] It passed into English through French, about 1300, as tenor, the general meaning of something.^[7]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro of the course of the sun and moon.^[2][3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of an unbroken flow of speech.^[2][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of a spear keeping its course.^[5][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of the stress of the voice.^[2][4]
• 802 – A capitulary uses it.^[4]
• c. 1300 – English borrows it, through Old French.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sustained and even course or movement;^[2][5][1] ūnō tenōre, in one continuous movement.^[2][5][1]
2. A way of proceeding, course.^[2][1]
3. Continuity of conditions or events; uniformity of appearance.^[2]
4. (law) The line taken by a law or document; its purport.^[2][1]
5. A tone or stress of the voice; a shade of colour.^[2][1]
6. (Medieval Latin) The wording or contents of a document; a stipulation; a manner or ground; observance.^[6]
7. (Medieval Latin) Seisin.^[6][1]

Related words

• teneō
• tenāx
• English tenor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com