tenement
[ ten-uh-muh nt ]
/ ˈtɛn ə mənt /
noun
Also called tenement house. a run-down and often overcrowded apartment house, especially in a poor section of a large city.
Law.
- any species of permanent property, as lands, houses, rents, an office, or a franchise, that may be held of another.
- tenements, freehold interests in things immovable considered as subjects of property.
British. an apartment or room rented by a tenant.
Archaic. any abode or habitation.
Nearby words
tenebrionid, tenebrism, tenebrous, tenectomy, tenedos, tenement, tenement house, tenemental, tenementary, tenerife, teneriffe
Origin of tenement
1250–1300; Middle English < Medieval Latin tenēmentum, equivalent to Latin tenē(re) to hold + -mentum -ment
Related formsten·e·men·tal [ten-uh-men-tl] /ˌtɛn əˈmɛn tl/, ten·e·men·ta·ry [ten-uh-men-tuh-ree] /ˌtɛn əˈmɛn tə ri/, adjectiveten·e·ment·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for tenement
British Dictionary definitions for tenement
tenement
/ (ˈtɛnəmənt) /
noun
Also called: tenement building (now esp in Scotland) a large building divided into separate flats
a dwelling place or residence, esp one intended for rent
mainly British a room or flat for rent
property law any form of permanent property, such as land, dwellings, offices, etc
Derived Formstenemental (ˌtɛnəˈmɛntəl) or tenementary, adjectivetenemented, adjective
Word Origin for tenement
C14: from Medieval Latin tenementum, from Latin tenēre to hold
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for tenement
tenement
c.1300, "holding of immovable property" (such as land or buildings,) from Anglo-French (late 13c.) and Old French tenement (12c.), from Medieval Latin tenementum "a holding, fief" (11c.), from Latin tenere "to hold" (see tenet). The meaning "dwelling place, residence" is attested from early 15c.; tenement house "house broken up into apartments, usually in a poor section of a city" is first recorded 1858, American English, from tenament in an earlier sense (especially in Scotland) "large house constructed to be let to a number of tenants" (1690s).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper