tenancy

American  

[ten-uhn-see] / ˈtɛn ən si /

noun

tenancies plural

1. a holding, as of lands, by any kind of title; occupancy of land, a house, or the like, under a lease or on payment of rent; tenure.

2. the period of a tenant's occupancy.

3. occupancy or enjoyment of a position, post, situation, etc..

   her tenancy as professor of history at the state university.

4. Archaic. a piece of land held by a tenant; holding.

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tenancy British  

/ ˈtɛnənsɪ /

noun

1. the temporary possession or holding by a tenant of lands or property owned by another

2. the period of holding or occupying such property

3. the period of holding office, a position, etc

4. property held or occupied by a tenant

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tenancies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tenancy

First recorded in 1570–80; ten(ant) + -ancy; compare Medieval Latin tenantia, variant of tenentia

Explanation

Tenancy is the act of living somewhere, especially in a house, building, or apartment. You could say, for example, that your tenancy in the little white farmhouse lasted for six years, until you moved to the city. The noun tenancy means a period of living in a certain place or having a business in a specific building. If you give up your tenancy, you move to a new place, and if your tenancy ends earlier than you expected, you may owe your landlord some money. The word tenancy is closely related to tenant, with its earliest meaning of "one who holds land," from a Latin root — tenere, "to keep" or "to hold."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tenancy tenancies

With joint tenancy with the rights of survivorship, you own 100% of your home together, and he could not sell to a third party.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026

City Council and looks forward to seeing what the candidate could do as mayor, especially for tenancy rights.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026

The fact that a sitting first lady, who lives in a presidential mansion in the capital, Freetown, retains a tenancy has drawn criticism in both the British and Sierra Leonean press.

From BBC ● May 17, 2026

As rising data usage spurs operators to roll out more 5G sites, Indus Towers could enjoy higher tenancy ratios.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

In all the years of our tenancy we never saw the Zemindar who owned our land.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

Joint tenancies, living trusts, life estates and transfer-on-death deeds are no longer necessarily protected from recovery, depending on the circumstances.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

Also, with anchor customer Vodafone Idea possibly raising funds to expand 4G capacity and roll out 4G and 5G networks, this would add new tenancies to Indus Towers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

Fixed term tenancies, where renters are tied into a 12 or 24-month contract, are banned under the new rules.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026

It will also abolish fixed-term tenancies and mandate that four months' notice must be given by a landlord who wishes to regain possession of a property to sell.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2025

The farmhouses also were above the average, while in two of the parishes the tenants had rights of common, and in two others the tenancies were tithe free.

From A Short History of English Agriculture by Curtler, W. H. R. (William Henry Ricketts)