tenant
[ten-uh nt]
- a person or group that rents and occupies land, a house, an office, or the like, from another for a period of time; lessee.
- Law. a person who holds or possesses for a time lands, tenements, or personalty of another, usually for rent.
- an occupant or inhabitant of any place.
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- to hold or occupy as a tenant; dwell in; inhabit.
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- to dwell or live (usually followed by in).
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tenant
Contemporary Examples
But the law itself is hard to enforce unless there is a specific complaint about a tenant.
Phineas has just suffered the defeat of his bill to strengthen the rights of Irish tenant farmers.
It occurs after Phineas has just suffered the defeat of his bill to improve the condition of Irish tenant farmers.
He said to police, the tenant's "face could have run into my hand."
In another instance, Sharif told a court he didn't hit a tenant from whom his brother and he were trying to collect back rent.
Historical Examples
The last I heard of him, he was the tenant of a western penitentiary.
The Works of Whittier, Volume V (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
She was betrothed to a good young man, too: a tenant of his.
A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens
From something in your last, I would wish to explain my idea of being your tenant.
The Letters of Robert BurnsRobert Burns
I have no foolish notion of being a tenant on easier terms than another.
The Letters of Robert BurnsRobert Burns
No tenant could be found for the place, which was avoided as if the plague still clung to it.
Self-HelpSamuel Smiles
tenant
- a person who holds, occupies, or possesses land or property by any kind of right or title, esp from a landlord under a lease
- a person who has the use of a house, flat, etc, subject to the payment of rent
- any holder or occupant
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- (tr) to hold (land or property) as a tenant
- (intr foll by in) rare to dwell
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French, literally: (one who is) holding, from tenir to hold, from Latin tenēre
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for tenant
n.
early 14c., "person who holds lands by title or by lease," from Anglo-French tenaunt (late 13c.), Old French tenant (12c.), noun use of present participle of tenir "to hold," from Latin tenere "hold, keep" (see tenet).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper