Definition
A Latin phrase meaning "by the tenor of these presents" — that is, by the content, intent, and meaning of the instrument or document at hand. The phrase was a formal drafting convention in legal instruments, particularly deeds, grants, and letters patent, signaling that the force or effect of the document derived from what was expressed within it. "These presents" refers to the document itself (from the Latin *praesentes litterae*, "these present letters"), and "tenor" refers not merely to the literal text but to the operative intent and meaning carried by that text.
The phrase functions as a recital clause, directing attention to the instrument's own terms as the source of whatever right, obligation, or grant follows.
Common Language
The word "tenor" in ordinary English carries a general sense of the prevailing character or direction of something — the tenor of a conversation, or the general meaning of a statement. Webster's 1913 defines tenor in relevant part as "a hold; a keep; continuance; — in the phrase 'by the tenor of,'" and also as "the general meaning; purport; substance." In modern common usage (Wiktionary), tenor means the general meaning, course, or direction of something.
The legal use is narrower and more technical: in phrases like *tenore praesentium*, tenor refers specifically to the operative effect of a formal written instrument — not merely its general sense but its legal force as constituted by its internal terms. A modern reader may grasp the word but miss that it carried precise drafting weight in historical instruments.
Common Confusion
NOTE ON SPELLING: The source entry spells this term "Tenore Frjesentium," which appears to be a typographical corruption of *Tenore Praesentium* (or *Tenore Presentium* in medieval Latin orthography). The "Fr-" rendering of "Pr-" and the inserted "j" are consistent with OCR or transcription errors common in digitized historical legal texts. Researchers encountering "Frjesentium" in a scanned source should treat it as *Praesentium*. No distinct legal term "Frjesentium" exists.
Why It Matters in Research
This term is almost exclusively a historical artifact of formal legal drafting, appearing most frequently in pre-modern deeds, royal grants, letters patent, and ecclesiastical instruments in the English and Continental legal traditions. Researchers working with historical document collections — particularly those predating the nineteenth-century plain-language movement in conveyancing — will encounter this phrase as a standard recital formula.
The corruption of the term in the source entry (*Frjesentium* for *Praesentium*) is a practical warning: Law Mind's historical sources were often digitized from aged print editions, and OCR errors systematically distort Latin terms, which lack the contextual redundancy that helps automated recognition correct English words. When a Latin phrase in a historical legal dictionary appears garbled, check for OCR corruption before concluding the term is obscure or specialized.
Researchers should also note that "these presents" survives in modern legal drafting — particularly in formal deeds, bonds, and instruments — as a standalone convention ("Know all men by these presents..."), even where the full Latin phrase has disappeared. Tracing the full phrase *tenore praesentium* in historical sources therefore connects to the persistent English-language drafting formula.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed., Supplemental) defines the phrase as "by the tenor of these presents, i.e., the matter contained therein, or rather the intent and meaning thereof," citing Cowell. John Cowell's *Interpreter* (1607) is the likely source, as Cowell was a primary English authority on Latin and law-French terms in legal instruments of the period.
The definition is brief but precise in one important respect: it distinguishes "the matter contained therein" from "the intent and meaning thereof," a distinction that tracked the interpretive debate in historical jurisprudence between reading instruments by their literal text versus their operative purpose. The "or rather" construction in the definition signals that Black's (following Cowell) leaned toward purposive reading — the tenor of an instrument meant its legal effect, not merely its words.
No elaboration appears in the available source beyond this single entry, which is characteristic of purely formulaic Latin phrases that were well understood by practitioners of the era and required no extended treatment.
Jurisdictional Note
The phrase appears in both English common law instruments and civil law documents, reflecting shared Roman-canonical drafting conventions. Its use was not jurisdiction-specific, but it was most prevalent in instruments drafted under the influence of medieval Latin legal forms — particularly in English, Scottish, and ecclesiastical practice.