tenet
[ ten-it; British also tee-nit ]
/ ˈtɛn ɪt; British also ˈti nɪt /
noun
any opinion, principle, doctrine, dogma, etc., especially one held as true by members of a profession, group, or movement.
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Origin of tenet
1590–1600; <Latin: he holds
pronunciation note for tenet
The word tenet , defined here, should not be hard to pronounce. For speakers of American English, say the number ten, then add the pronoun it , and you have tenet , pronounced (tenit). Unfortunately, there is a similar-looking and similar-sounding word in English that is much more common—the word tenant , meaning someone who rents and occupies an apartment, office, etc. This word is pronounced (tenənt), and its pronunciation is frequently used in error by people who intend to say tenet . Because both words involve sequences of the same letters t and n —both of which are pronounced with the tongue in the same place, touching the upper palate—it is easy for the extra n of the more common word tenant to creep into the pronunciation of tenet . With care, one can learn to pronounce these two words differently and appropriately.
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH tenet
tenant, tenetWords nearby tenet
Tenedos, tenement, Tenerife, tenesmic, tenesmus, tenet, tenfold, ten-four, ten-gallon hat, tenge, Teng Hsiao-ping
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for tenet
British Dictionary definitions for tenet
tenet
/ (ˈtɛnɪt, ˈtiːnɪt) /
noun
a belief, opinion, or dogma
Word Origin for tenet
C17: from Latin, literally: he (it) holds, from tenēre to hold
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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