tenant

American  

[ten-uhnt] / ˈtɛn ənt /

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.

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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 byin ).

tenant British  

/ 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

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verb

1. (tr) to hold (land or property) as a tenant

2. 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

Explanation

A tenant is someone who lives in a place owned by someone else, usually paying rent. If you blast your music and let the cat pee in the corner, your landlord will not think that you're a very good tenant. Tenant is often used to mean "renter," but it can mean anyone who has the right to live in a particular place, either because he signed a lease, which is a rental agreement, because he owns the land, or because government gave him a title to it. If you live in a big apartment building, you should be aware of your rights as a tenant, which usually include things like having heat in the winter and proper fire escapes.

Example Sentences

Capital Group is already an anchor tenant in Bank of America Plaza, and it will consolidate other offices there after the sale closes.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

And it won’t get more project financing until it signs a tenant.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

Shares of Fermi tumbled to a record low on Monday, after the artificial-intelligence power-generation startup and real-estate company still couldn’t provide guidance on when it will get its first tenant.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

A New York developer last year completed construction of a million-square-foot warehouse about 45 miles east of Atlanta, but couldn’t find a tenant.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

We live in the top two floors of a brownstone, and I check to see if George, our first-floor tenant, is home.

From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon

Related Words

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