tenant
Americannoun
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a person or group that rents and occupies land, a house, an office, or the like, from another for a period of time; lessee.
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Law. a person who holds or possesses for a time lands, tenements, or personalty of another, usually for rent.
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an occupant or inhabitant of any place.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a person who holds, occupies, or possesses land or property by any kind of right or title, esp from a landlord under a lease
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a person who has the use of a house, flat, etc, subject to the payment of rent
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any holder or occupant
verb
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(tr) to hold (land or property) as a tenant
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rare to dwell
Other Word Forms
- nontenant noun
- nontenantable adjective
- tenant-like adjective
- tenantable adjective
- tenantless adjective
- tenantlike adjective
- untenantable adjective
- untenanted adjective
Etymology
Origin of tenant
1250–1300; Middle English tena ( u ) nt < Anglo-French; Middle French tenant, noun use of present participle of tenir to hold ≪ Latin tenēre. See -ant
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She first complained to the post office in Euless, Texas, after she learned the mail carrier had changed the listed owner on a central postal box from Konan’s name to a tenant’s name.
From Los Angeles Times
"It is astonishing that we are being asked to close after all of this. Along with Hamleys and Liberty, we are the oldest tenants on Regent Street."
From BBC
She said individual farm agreements would also be capped at £100,000, but they would be made more accessible to a wider range of farmers, especially tenant farmers.
From BBC
CoStar Group pushed into the data business, creating dominance over information on building size, age, tenants and sale prices—data that the established firms once controlled and now pay CoStar dearly to access.
CoreWeave would be the sole tenant and be responsible for filling the building with equipment—which would likely cost many billions more.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
