Nearby Words

tenant

[ten-uhnt] Origin

ten·ant

[ten-uhnt]
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)
4.
to hold or occupy as a tenant; dwell in; inhabit.

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Tenant is always a great word to know.
So is criminal. Does it mean:
of or pertaining to crime or its punishment
the aggregate of statutory enactments dealing with crimes and their punishment
verb (used without object)
5.
to dwell or live (usually followed by in).

Origin:
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

ten·ant·a·ble, adjective
ten·ant·less, adjective
ten·ant·like, adjective
non·ten·ant, noun
non·ten·ant·a·ble, adjective
EXPAND
un·ten·ant·a·ble, adjective
un·ten·ant·ed, adjective
COLLAPSE

tenant, tenet.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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World English Dictionary
tenant (ˈtɛnənt)
 
n
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
 
vb (foll by in)
4.  (tr) to hold (land or property) as a tenant
5.  rare to dwell
 
[C14: from Old French, literally: (one who is) holding, from tenir to hold, from Latin tenēre]
 
'tenantable
 
adj
 
'tenantless
 
adj
 
'tenant-like
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

tenant
early 14c., "person who holds lands by title or by lease," from Anglo-Fr. tenaunt (late 13c.), O.Fr. tenant (12c.), noun use of prp. of tenir "to hold," from L. tenere "hold, keep" (see tenet).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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