Tenor (from Latin tenor - holder, or tenere - hold) means generally:

• the true purport and effect of a deed or instrument;
• the character or usual pattern of something;
• the drift or general meaning of a statement or discourse;
• the concept, object, or person meant in a metaphor.

In specialised fields:

• Tenor refers to a musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto. Also, tenor is term used to describe a person, instrument, or group that performs in that range or the tenor clef.
• Tenor is the name given in Change ringing to the bell with the lowest pitch.
• Tenor is another name for the recitation tone of a Gregorian chant.
• Tenor (linguistics) refers to the relationship between participants in a discourse.
• Tenor (finance) refers to the time-to-maturity of a bond.
• A Tenor Saxophone is often colloquially referred to as a Tenor.
• Multi-Tenor Drums are often referred to as Tenors.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.