tenure

American  

[ten-yer] / ˈtɛn jər /

noun

1. the holding or possessing of anything.

   the tenure of an office.

2. the holding of property, especially real property, of a superior in return for services to be rendered.

3. the period or term of holding something.

4. status granted to an employee, usually after a probationary period, indicating that the position or employment is permanent.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to give tenure to.

   After she served three years on probation, the committee tenured her.

tenure British  

/ ˈtɛnjə, ˈtɛnjʊə /

noun

1. the possession or holding of an office or position

2. the length of time an office, position, etc, lasts; term

3. the improved security status of a person after having been in the employ of the same company or institution for a specified period

4. the right to permanent employment until retirement, esp for teachers, lecturers, etc

5. property law

   1. the holding or occupying of property, esp realty, in return for services rendered, etc

   2. the duration of such holding or occupation

---

Other Word Forms

• undertenure
  noun
• nontenurial
  adjective
• tenurial
  adjective
• nontenurially
  adverb
• tenurially
  adverb

---

Etymology

Origin of tenure

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French; Old French teneure, from Vulgar Latin tenitura (unrecorded), equivalent to tenit(us) (unrecorded) “held” (for Latin tentus, past participle of tenēre “to hold”) + -ura -ure

---

Explanation

Take the noun tenure for the period of time a person holds a position or office. Your tenure as a student ends when you graduate high school — unless, of course, you go on to college. Tenure from the Latin tenere means "to hold" and refers to the period of time a person works at a particular job or in an office. A president might have to deal with a recession during his tenure in the White House. In university jargon, if you have tenure, you have a permanent teaching position or professorship. In this sense, tenure can also be used as a verb. You've got it made if you're tenured at age 29.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tenure

Others expressed stridently different feelings about her tenure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

The average tenure of the new partner class was 17 years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

The tenure of Rep. Chip Roy will also come to an end in January after the congressman ran for Texas attorney general, a contest he lost in a primary runoff to Mayes Middleton.

From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026

Sebastien Pocognoli faces a major test early in his tenure as he prepares on Tuesday to name his second Scotland squad after back-to-back home Nations League defeats.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

It is a bear skull, the remains of a grizzly shot by someone who visited the bus years before McCandless’s tenure.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• administration
• occupation
• ownership
• regime
• reign
• term

---