tenet

American  

[ten-it, tee-nit] / ˈtɛn ɪt, ˈti nɪt /

noun

1. any opinion, principle, doctrine, dogma, etc., especially one held as true by members of a profession, group, or movement.

   Synonyms:

   position, belief

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tenet British  

/ ˈtiːnɪt, ˈtɛnɪt /

noun

1. a belief, opinion, or dogma

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Pronunciation

The word tenet is often mispronounced as , with an extra /n/ sound in the second syllable—exactly like the word tenant (meaning someone who rents and occupies an apartment, office, etc.). It is a mistake made by people across a wide range of educational backgrounds, because it is such a natural one to make: English has thousands of words that end in the unstressed syllable -ant or -ent, such as parent, accident, potent, and relevant. Moreover, the two sounds at the end of all these words—/n/ and /t/—are very easily made together because we pronounce them with the tongue in the same place, touching the upper palate (or roof) of the mouth. The almost identical-sounding and common word tenant makes it all too easy for the extra /n/ to creep into the second syllable of tenet. Another word that is liable to be mispronounced in a similar way, with an extra /n/ in the second syllable, is pundit. No doubt the first /n/ in both tenet and pundit also influences their mispronunciation. And in pundit, the /d/ sound is another one made in the same place as both /n/ and /t/. Talk about piling on!

Etymology

Origin of tenet

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin: “he holds,” 3rd person singular present indicative of tenēre “to hold”; tenant ( def. )

Explanation

A tenet is a principle or belief honored by a person or, more often, a group of people. "Seek pleasure and avoid pain" is a basic tenet of Hedonism. "God exists" is a tenet of most major religions. Tenet is pronounced "ten’it." The word evolved from the Latin tenere "to hold." The noun tenet is an opinion or doctrine one holds. It usually refers to a philosophy or a religion, but it doesn't have to — for instance, Eastern medicine has different tenets from Western medicine. One of the central tenets of succeeding in the workplace is that a good offense is the best defense.

Example Sentences

“Fully informed transactions between buyers and sellers are a key tenet of a free market,” said a spokesperson for the Global Disinformation Index.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

And that, in so many ways, was the basic tenet of German foreign policy.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

Steve Sosnick, the chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, writes that the president’s comments “challenged investors’ perceptions about a speedy end to hostilities and a fundamental tenet of U.S. equities’ placid response to the crisis.”

From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026

To achieve self-sufficiency, China has made advanced robotics a key tenet of its national strategy for technological and economic development.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2025

The new lab had inherited this tenet from its parent, Ernest Lawrence, who had experienced not a few such mishaps during his career.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• assumption
• credo
• creed
• doctrine
• dogma
• faith
• precept
• presumption
• teaching