tenant

[ ten-uhnt ]

noun

1. a person or group that rents and occupies land, a house, an office, or the like, from another for a period of time; lessee.
2. Law. a person who holds or possesses for a time lands, tenements, or personalty of another, usually for rent.
3. an occupant or inhabitant of any place.

verb (used with object)

1. to hold or occupy as a tenant; dwell in; inhabit.

verb (used without object)

1. to dwell or live (usually followed by in ).

tenant

/ ˈtɛnənt /

noun

1. a person who holds, occupies, or possesses land or property by any kind of right or title, esp from a landlord under a lease
2. a person who has the use of a house, flat, etc, subject to the payment of rent
3. any holder or occupant

verb

1. tr to hold (land or property) as a tenant
2. rare.
   intrfoll byin to dwell

Derived Forms

• ˈtenantless, adjective
• ˈtenant-ˌlike, adjective
• ˈtenantable, adjective

Other Words From

• tenant·a·ble adjective
• tenant·less adjective
• tenant·like adjective
• non·tenant noun
• non·tenant·a·ble adjective
• un·tenant·a·ble adjective
• un·tenant·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tenant¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of tenant¹

C14: from Old French, literally: (one who is) holding, from tenir to hold, from Latin tenēre

Example Sentences

In mid–November, Fage138 bought shares of GameStop, a staple mall tenant that sells electronics and gaming merchandise.

From Quartz

In recent years, building owners have offered such amenities as gyms and cafes to their tenants, he added, but those will likely be scaled back in favor of basics like cleanliness and smart technology.

From Digiday

In many cases, an eviction filing is enough to get tenants to move out, even though it technically is only the start of a larger process and tenants are not legally required to move out upon receiving the notice.

From Popular-Science

Flexibility in state and federal orders gives local judges discretion in terms of finding judgments against tenants, even if the actual removal is delayed by the moratoriums.

From Washington Post

Change making is a central tenant of how to survive and thrive and not just withstand crisis.

From Washington Blade

But the law itself is hard to enforce unless there is a specific complaint about a tenant.

From The Daily Beast

El-Hamy Mahmoud El-Hamy, a Cairo landlord, recently urged a female tenant to buy a gun for self-defense purposes.

From The Daily Beast

Phineas has just suffered the defeat of his bill to strengthen the rights of Irish tenant farmers.

From The Daily Beast

It occurs after Phineas has just suffered the defeat of his bill to improve the condition of Irish tenant farmers.

From The Daily Beast

In other words two of the three possible scenarios would end up delivering a new tenant to the White House.

From The Daily Beast

When the harvest time arrives in December, each tenant carries his crop to the mill for grinding.

From Project Gutenberg

The agitation for Tenant-Right in Ireland is destined to fail—in fact, has virtually failed already.

From Project Gutenberg

But rents are going up in this neighborhood andWell, I can get a much more satisfactory tenant.

From Project Gutenberg

When a lease is about to expire a difficult question sometimes arises, what can the tenant take away with him?

From Project Gutenberg

She neglected to say that she had paid the tenant a certain sum to leave the cottage and move into another house.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dweller
• holder
• inhabitant
• occupant
• renter
• resident