English Online Dictionary. What means tenant? What does tenant mean?
English
Alternative forms
- tenaunt, tennant, tennaunt (obsolete)
Etymology 1
From Middle English tenaunt, from Anglo-Norman tenaunt and Old French tenant, present participle of tenir (“to hold”), from Latin tenēre, present active infinitive of teneō (“hold, keep”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtɛ.nənt/, enPR: tĕnənt
- Rhymes: -ɛnənt
Noun
tenant (plural tenants)
- One who holds a lease (a tenancy).
- Synonyms: renter, lessee, (rare) rentee, leaseholder
- Hyponyms: subtenant, undertenant, sublessee, underlessee
- (by extension) One who has possession of any place.
- Synonyms: dweller, occupant
- c. 1782-1783, William Cowper, Joy in Martyrdom
- sweet tenants of this grove
- (computing) Any of a number of customers serviced through the same instance of an application.
- (chiefly historical) One who holds a feudal tenure in real property.
- (property law, by extension) One who owns real estate other than via allodial title.
Derived terms
Related terms
- tenement
Translations
See also
- tenet
Verb
tenant (third-person singular simple present tenants, present participle tenanting, simple past and past participle tenanted)
- To hold as, or be, a tenant.
- Synonym: lodge
- (transitive) To inhabit.
Translations
Etymology 2
Possibly just a modification of tenet, but note obsolete tenent (“tenet”).
Noun
tenant
- Misconstruction of tenet
Anagrams
- -netant, Annett
Cebuano
Etymology
From English tenant, borrowed from Anglo-Norman tenaunt, from Old French tenant, present participle of tenir (“to hold”), from Latin tenēre, present active infinitive of teneō (“hold, keep”). Doublet of tener and tinidor.
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: te‧nant
Noun
tenant
- a tenant; one who pays a fee (rent) in return for the use of land, buildings, or other property owned by others
- one who has possession of any place; a dweller; an occupant
- (law) one who holds a property by any kind of right, including ownership
French
Etymology
Present participle of tenir. From Old French tenant; corresponding to Latin tenentem.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tə.nɑ̃/
Noun
tenant m (plural tenants)
- advocate, supporter
- a single contiguous piece, especially of land
- d’un seul tenant ― in one piece, in a single holding
- (in the plural) the land adjoining a property along its longer sides
- Antonym: aboutissants
- (historical) tenant, holder (host of a medieval tournament who took on challengers)
- (law, dated) tenant (holder of a lease)
- (heraldry) supporter
Derived terms
- tenants et aboutissants
- tenants et aboutissements
Participle
tenant
- present participle of tenir
Related terms
- lieutenant
Further reading
- “tenant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- entant
Old French
Alternative forms
- tenaunt (Anglo-Norman, noun, adjective, verb)
Etymology
From the verb tenir (“to hold; to possess”); corresponding to Latin tenens, tenentem.
Noun
tenant oblique singular, m (oblique plural tenanz or tenantz, nominative singular tenanz or tenantz, nominative plural tenant)
- holder
- possessor (of land or property); tenant
Adjective
tenant m (oblique and nominative feminine singular tenant or tenante)
- holder; owner (attributively)
- sticky; adhesive
- strong (of an object, etc.)
Verb
tenant
- present participle of tenir
Descendants
- → English: tenant
- French: tenant
References
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (tenant)
- tenant on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
Welsh
Etymology
Borrowed from English tenant.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtɛnant/
Noun
tenant m (plural tenantiaid)
- tenant
Derived terms
- tenantiaeth (“tenancy”)
Mutation
Further reading
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “tenant”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies