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View synonyms for tenet

tenet

[ ten-it; British also tee-nit ]

noun

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

    Synonyms: position, belief



tenet

/ ˈtɛnɪt; ˈtiːnɪt /

noun

  1. a belief, opinion, or dogma


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Pronunciation Note

The word tenet is often mispronounced as [ten, -, uh, nt], 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!

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Word History and Origins

Origin of tenet1

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

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Word History and Origins

Origin of tenet1

C17: from Latin, literally: he (it) holds, from tenēre to hold

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Example Sentences

There, I think our guiding tenet is always to get the expert help in those settings and I think even though you’re sharing it as a companion there’s a huge responsibility for the AI at that point.

Familiarize yourself with the core tenets of Agile as it’s been used successfully by tech and development teams for years.

One of the tenets of that is to address disinformation or bad information with facts and what’s actually going on.

A core tenet of good urban design is the need for “eyes on the street” — business owners, passers-by and residents who have a vested interest in keeping their streets safe and monitoring suspicious activity.

Some were talking about Q, repeating and promoting the core tenets of the conspiracy theory.

Charter schools, rejecting the tenet of promotion through seniority, promised to do better.

The court will not “inquire into the validity of a religious tenet.”

We might call this a central tenet of the right, although the word tenet dignifies it too much.

Second, the decision goes against a basic tenet of academia: judgment of an argument should be based on its merit alone.

Shortly before Sept. 11, then–CIA director George Tenet said it would be “a terrible mistake” to use a weapon like the Predator.

Mastrius (loco jam citato) tenet inseminationem esse necessariam.

Pleasure they regarded as an evil, having a tendency to enchain man to earthly enjoyments, a peculiarly Buddhist tenet.

Of this doctrine, considered as a philosophical tenet, we shall have occasion to speak more fully in the concluding Book.

For three generations at least this tenet in favour of long noses had gradually been taking root in our family.

Then, in his own pleasant parlour, he engaged in fervent discourse on his favourite tenet of Christian assurance.

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