Tenant Definition & Meaning

American

British

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms tenant American [ten-uhnt] / ˈtɛn ənt /

noun

1. a person or group that rents and occupies land, a house, an office, or the like, from another for a period of time; lessee.

2. Law. a person who holds or possesses for a time lands, tenements, or personalty of another, usually for rent.

3. an occupant or inhabitant of any place.

verb (used with object)

1. to hold or occupy as a tenant; dwell in; inhabit.

verb (used without object)

1. to dwell or live (usually followed byin ).

tenant British / ˈtɛnənt /

noun

1. a person who holds, occupies, or possesses land or property by any kind of right or title, esp from a landlord under a lease

2. a person who has the use of a house, flat, etc, subject to the payment of rent

3. any holder or occupant

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

1. (tr) to hold (land or property) as a tenant

2. rare to dwell

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

• nontenant noun
• nontenantable adjective
• tenant-like adjective
• tenantable adjective
• tenantless adjective
• tenantlike adjective
• untenantable adjective
• untenanted adjective

Etymology

Origin of tenant

1250–1300; Middle English tena ( u ) nt < Anglo-French; Middle French tenant, noun use of present participle of tenir to hold ≪ Latin tenēre. See -ant

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And landlords can still raise rents to market rates when new tenants move in.

From The Wall Street Journal

Landlords must consider each request for a pet to join a tenant and cannot unreasonably refuse.

From BBC

They're all included in new rules that can see independent breweries have their products sold at "tenant pubs", those owned by breweries but run by external people.

From BBC

In Citrus Heights, near Sacramento, the police department issued $25,000 in fines to a landlord earlier this year, alleging that tenants set off illegal fireworks in a street near the property on July Fourth.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Santa Fe, N.M.-based art collective Meow Wolf is a leader in the space and designed the Omega Mart experience that was the anchor tenant for Area15 when it opened.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• dweller
• holder
• inhabitant
• occupant
• renter
• resident

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.