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. ténor, 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.
||Ten`o*syn`o*vi"tis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. te`nwn a tendon + E.
||synovitis.] (Med.) Inflammation of the synovial sheath enveloping a
||tendon.
||
Ten"o*tome (?), n. (Surg.) A slender knife for use in the operation of
tenotomy.
Te*not"o*my (?), n. [Gr. te`nwn a tendon + te`mnein to cut.] (Surg.)
The division of a tendon, or the act of dividing a tendon.
Ten"pen*ny (?), a. Valued or sold at ten pence; as, a tenpenny cake.
See 2d Penny, n.
Ten"pen*ny, a. Denoting a size of nails. See 1st Penny.
Ten"pins (?), n. A game resembling ninepins, but played with ten pins.
See Ninepins. [U. S.]
Ten"-pound`er (?), n. (Zoöl.) A large oceanic fish (Elops saurus) found
in the tropical parts of all the oceans. It is used chiefly for bait.
Ten"rec (?), n. [From the native name: cf. F. tanrac, tanrec, tandrec.]
(Zoöl.) A small insectivore (Centetes ecaudatus), native of Madagascar,
but introduced also into the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius; — called
also tanrec. The name is applied to other allied genera. See Tendrac.
Tense (?), n. [OF. tens, properly, time, F. temps time, tense. See
Temporal of time, and cf. Thing.] (Gram.) One of the forms which a verb
takes by inflection or by adding auxiliary words, so as to indicate the
time of the action or event signified; the modification which verbs
undergo for the indication of time.
The primary simple tenses are three: those which express time past,
present, and future; but these admit of modifications, which differ in
different languages.
Tense, a. [L. tensus, p. p. of tendere to stretch. See Tend to move,
and cf. Toise.] Stretched tightly; strained to stiffness; rigid; not
lax; as, a tense fiber.
The temples were sunk, her forehead was tense, and a fatal paleness was
upon her.
Goldsmith.
— Tense"ly, adv. — Tense"ness, n.
Ten`si*bil"i*ty (?), n. The quality or state of being tensible;
tensility.
Ten"si*ble (?), a. [See Tense, a.] Capable of being extended or drawn
out; ductile; tensible.
Gold . . . is likewise the most flexible and tensible.
Bacon.
Ten"sile (?), a. [See Tense, a.] 1. Of or pertaining to extension; as,
tensile strength.