\Ten"or\, n. [L., from tenere to hold; hence, properly, a
holding on in a continued course: cf. F. teneur. See
{Tenable}, and cf. {Tenor} a kind of voice.]
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.

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.

3. Stamp; character; nature.

         This success would look like chance, if it were
         perpetual, and always of the same tenor. --Dryden.

4. (Law) 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.
   --Bouvier.

5. [F. t['e]nor, L. tenor, properly, a holding; -- so called
   because the tenor was the voice which took and held the
   principal part, the plain song, air, or tune, to which the
   other voices supplied a harmony above and below: cf. It.
   tenore.] (Mus.)
   (a) 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.
   (b) A person who sings the tenor, or the instrument that
       play it.

{Old Tenor}, {New Tenor}, {Middle Tenor}, different
   descriptions of paper money, issued at different periods,
   by the American colonial governments in the last century.