tenant
[ ten-uh nt ]
/ ˈtɛn ənt /
noun
a person or group that rents and occupies land, a house, an office, or the like, from another for a period of time; lessee.
Law.
a person who holds or possesses for a time lands, tenements, or personalty of another, usually for rent.
an occupant or inhabitant of any place.
verb (used with object)
to hold or occupy as a tenant; dwell in; inhabit.
verb (used without object)
to dwell or live (usually followed by in).
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
OTHER WORDS FROM tenant
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH tenant
tenant tenetWords nearby tenant
Example sentences from the Web for tenantless
British Dictionary definitions for tenantless
tenant
/ (ˈtɛnənt) /
noun
a person who holds, occupies, or possesses land or property by any kind of right or title, esp from a landlord under a lease
a person who has the use of a house, flat, etc, subject to the payment of rent
any holder or occupant
verb
(tr)
to hold (land or property) as a tenant
(intr foll by in) rare
to dwell
Derived forms of tenant
tenantable, adjective tenantless, adjective tenant-like, adjectiveWord Origin for tenant
C14: from Old French, literally: (one who is) holding, from
tenir to hold, from Latin
tenēre