Definition
In heraldry, tenne (also spelled tenné) is a tincture representing the color orange, or in some usages a bright tawny brown. It belongs to the category of tinctures known as "stainands" — a group that also includes sanguine — which occupy an anomalous position in heraldic law, treated as less honorable than the standard colors and metals and governed by distinct rules of blazon. In engraving and other non-color representations of coats of arms, tenne is conventionally depicted by diagonal lines running from sinister to dexter (bend sinister lines) crossed by horizontal (bar-ways) lines. Among heralds who blazon by planetary symbols, tenne is designated "dragon's head" (the ascending lunar node); among those who employ the jewel system of blazon, it is called "jacinth."
Common Language
Webster's 1913 defines tenne as "a tincture, rarely employed, which is considered as an orange color or bright brown," represented by diagonal lines running sinister to dexter crossed by vertical lines — a description consistent with heraldic usage. Wiktionary's entry identifies tenne only as an obsolete spelling of "ten," reflecting the word's near-total disappearance from general English. The gap between common and legal-heraldic meaning is complete: a researcher encountering "tenne" in a legal or documentary context will find no useful guidance in modern ordinary usage and must treat it as a term of art from armorial law.
Why It Matters in Research
Tenne appears in legal sources almost exclusively in the context of heraldic law — specifically in disputes over armorial bearings, grants of arms, the law of trademarks as applied to heraldic devices, and occasionally in property or estate records where coats of arms are described as part of identifying a family's entitlement or a seal's authenticity. Researchers should be alert to variant spellings: tenné, tenny, and tenné are all encountered in historical sources, and indexing in older legal collections may be inconsistent. The stainand classification matters legally because some heraldic authorities treated arms bearing stainands as marks of degradation or bastardy, a characterization that could surface in estate and legitimacy litigation in English ecclesiastical and common law courts. The three systems of blazon referenced in Black's 2nd Edition — color names, planetary symbols, and jewel names — reflect the genuine plurality of heraldic vocabulary in period documents; a researcher reading "jacinth" or "dragon's head" in an armorial context should recognize these as synonyms for tenne rather than distinct tinctures. Because tenne is rare in actual grants of arms, its appearance in a document may itself be a point of significance worth investigating.
Historical Dictionary Support
Both editions of Black's Law Dictionary give substantially identical treatment, with the second edition providing the more complete entry by identifying the three blazon systems and citing Wharton as authority. The core content — orange color, stainand classification, engraving convention — is consistent across sources. Webster's 1913 agrees on the color and the engraving representation, though it describes the diagonal lines as running sinister to dexter without specifying the cross-hatching direction precisely as Black's does. Neither Black's edition places tenne within a broader discussion of heraldic law or explains the legal consequences of the stainand distinction; for that context, researchers must consult dedicated heraldry treatises. Wharton's Law Lexicon, cited in Black's 2nd Edition, is the deeper source underlying both entries.
Jurisdictional Note
Heraldic law as a body of enforceable legal doctrine is largely confined to England, Scotland (where the Court of the Lord Lyon exercises statutory jurisdiction), and Ireland. In the United States, coats of arms carry no legal protection under heraldic law, though they may be relevant in trademark and trade dress contexts.