tenor
/ˈtɛnə(ɹ)/noun, adjective
tenor is spelled T-E-N-O-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tenor means “A musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tenor is tenors.
How many letters and syllables are in tenor?
| Letters | 5: T-E-N-O-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,122nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tenor?
Tenor appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tenor?
- UK /ˈtɛnə(ɹ)/
Tenor has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tenor.ogg, En-uk-tenor.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with tenor
Sounds like: tenner (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with tenor?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tenor from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnə/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: toner, trone, noter.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tenor
- tenors plural
- tenour
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tenor mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A musical range or section higher than bass and lower than alto.
- 2
A person, instrument, or group that performs in the tenor (higher than bass and lower than alto) range.
- 3
archaicA musical part or section that holds or performs the main melody, as opposed to the contratenor bassus and contratenor altus, who perform countermelodies.
- 4
The lowest tuned in a ring of bells.
- 5
Tone, as of a conversation.
- 6
obsoleteduration; continuance; a state of holding on in a continuous course; general tendency; career.
- 7
The subject in a metaphor to which attributes are ascribed.
- 8
Time to maturity of a bond.
adjective
- 1
Of or pertaining to the tenor part or range.
He has a tenor voice.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate tenor?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of tenor: T.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tenor in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tenor come from?
From Middle English tenour, from Anglo-Norman tenour, from Old French tenor (“substance, contents, meaning, sense; tenor part in music”), from Latin tenor (“course, continuance; holder”), from teneō (“to hold”). In music, from the notion of the one who holds the melody, as opposed to the countertenor.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).