tenor Latin · revision 32580

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=116–27 BC, Varro|origins=ine-pro *tn̥-eh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈtɛ.nɔr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈtɛː.nor]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tenor''' ''m'' (genitive tenōris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Quintilian cites ''ton-'' from old writers.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|teneō|-or|t1=to hold]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of [[m|la|teneō]], which he traces to [[itc-pro|*t(e)nē-]] and [[ine-pro|*tn̥-eh₁-|t=to hold]], a stative present of the root *ten- "to stretch".^(de Vaan 2008) He compares [[sa|तनोति|tr=tanóti|t=to stretch, extend]] and [[grc|τείνω|tr=teínō|t=to stretch]].^(de Vaan 2008) Quintilian reports that old writers had a form ⟨tonor⟩, which he derived from [[grc|τόνος|tr=tónos|t=tension, tone]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Varro, who uses it of the even, regulated course of the sun and moon.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The basic idea is holding on, an uninterrupted course: in Virgil a spear keeps its course.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero says of a speaker that he flows on in a single, unbroken course, ⟨ūnō tenōre⟩.^(OLD 2012) Livy writes of five consulships held in the same way, and Pliny the Elder uses it of continuous conditions and an even appearance.^(OLD 2012) In legal texts it is the line taken by a document, as in Papinian.^(OLD 2012) Quintilian uses it of the tone or stress of the voice, and Manilius of a shade of colour.^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short call it mostly post-Augustan.^(Lewis & Short 1879) 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.^(Niermeyer 1976) It passed into English through French, about 1300, as [[m|en|tenor]], the general meaning of something.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of the course of the sun and moon.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of an unbroken flow of speech.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a spear keeping its course.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of the stress of the voice.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 802 – A capitulary uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English borrows it, through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sustained and even course or movement;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''ūnō tenōre'', in one continuous movement.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A way of proceeding, [[m|en|course]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|continuity|alt=Continuity]] of conditions or events; uniformity of appearance.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(law)'' The line taken by a law or document; its [[m|en|purport]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A tone or stress of the voice; a shade of colour.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The wording or contents of a document; a stipulation; a manner or ground; observance.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|seisin|alt=Seisin]].^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[teneo|alt=teneō]]

+ * [[tenax|alt=tenāx]]

+ * [[en|tenor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}