tenet

American  

[ten-it, tee-nit] / ˈtɛn ɪt, ˈti nɪt /

noun

1. any opinion, principle, doctrine, dogma, etc., especially one held as true by members of a profession, group, or movement.

   Synonyms:

   position, belief

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tenet British  

/ ˈtiːnɪt, ˈtɛnɪt /

noun

1. a belief, opinion, or dogma

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Pronunciation

The word tenet is often mispronounced as , with an extra /n/ sound in the second syllable—exactly like the word tenant (meaning someone who rents and occupies an apartment, office, etc.). It is a mistake made by people across a wide range of educational backgrounds, because it is such a natural one to make: English has thousands of words that end in the unstressed syllable -ant or -ent, such as parent, accident, potent, and relevant. Moreover, the two sounds at the end of all these words—/n/ and /t/—are very easily made together because we pronounce them with the tongue in the same place, touching the upper palate (or roof) of the mouth. The almost identical-sounding and common word tenant makes it all too easy for the extra /n/ to creep into the second syllable of tenet. Another word that is liable to be mispronounced in a similar way, with an extra /n/ in the second syllable, is pundit. No doubt the first /n/ in both tenet and pundit also influences their mispronunciation. And in pundit, the /d/ sound is another one made in the same place as both /n/ and /t/. Talk about piling on!

Etymology

Origin of tenet

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin: “he holds,” 3rd person singular present indicative of tenēre “to hold”; cf. tenant ( def. )

Explanation

A tenet is a principle or belief honored by a person or, more often, a group of people. "Seek pleasure and avoid pain" is a basic tenet of Hedonism. "God exists" is a tenet of most major religions. Tenet is pronounced "ten’it." The word evolved from the Latin tenere "to hold." The noun tenet is an opinion or doctrine one holds. It usually refers to a philosophy or a religion, but it doesn't have to — for instance, Eastern medicine has different tenets from Western medicine. One of the central tenets of succeeding in the workplace is that a good offense is the best defense.

Example Sentences

There’s an old Wall Street tenet that there’s nothing more bullish than a record close.

From MarketWatch • May 4, 2026

Heifetz is grounded in her decision by a central tenet of Earthseed, the fictional religion Butler constructs in “Parable of the Sower.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026

And that, in so many ways, was the basic tenet of German foreign policy.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

The first tenet of the plan is that “we’ll pay our way to ensure our data centers don’t increase your electricity prices.”

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

The closest I’d come to violating that tenet had been a very subtle hint—which Jesse had ignored anyway—that getting an apartment in Chicago via the Net might prove risky.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

Related Words

• assumption
• credo
• creed
• doctrine
• dogma
• faith
• precept
• presumption
• teaching