Adjacent Words

Tenant definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TEN'ANT, n. [L. teneo; Gr. to strain, stretch, extend.]
1. A person holding land or other real estate under another, either by grant, lease or at will; one who has the occupation or temporary possession of lands or tenements whose title is in another; as a tenant in tail; tenant in common; tenant by the curtesy; tenant in parcenary; tenant for life; tenant at will; tenant in dower.
2. One who has possession of any place; a dweller.
The happy tenant of your shade.
Tenant in capite, or tenant in chief, by the laws of England, is one who holds immediately of the king. According to the feudal system, all lands in England are considered as held immediately or mediately of the king, who is stiled lord paramount. Such tenants however are considered as having the fee of the lands and permanent possession.
TEN'ANT, v.t. To hold or possess as a tenant.
Sir Roger's estate is tenanted by persons who have served him or his ancestors.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: someone who pays rent to use land or a building or a car that is owned by someone else; "the landlord can evict a tenant who doesn't pay the rent" [syn: tenant, renter]
2: a holder of buildings or lands by any kind of title (as ownership or lease)
3: any occupant who dwells in a place v
1: occupy as a tenant

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from present participle of tenir to hold Date: 14th century 1. a. one who holds or possesses real estate or sometimes personal property (as a security) by any kind of right b. one who has the occupation or temporary possession of lands or tenements of another; specifically one who rents or leases (as a house) from a landlord 2. occupant, dweller • tenantless adjective II. transitive verb Date: 1634 to hold or occupy as or as if as a tenant ; inhabit • tenantable adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a person who rents land or property from a landlord. 2 (often foll. by of) the occupant of a place. 3 Law a person holding real property by private ownership. --v.tr. occupy as a tenant. Phrases and idioms: tenant farmer a person who farms rented land. tenant right Brit. the right of a tenant to continue a tenancy at the termination of the lease. Derivatives: tenantable adj. tenantless adj. Etymology: ME f. OF, pres. part. of tenir hold f. L tenere

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tenant Ten"ant, n. [F. tenant, p. pr. of tenir to hold. See Tenable, and cf. Lieutenant.] 1. (Law) One who holds or possesses lands, or other real estate, by any kind of right, whether in fee simple, in common, in severalty, for life, for years, or at will; also, one who has the occupation or temporary possession of lands or tenements the title of which is in another; -- correlative to landlord. See Citation from --Blackstone, under Tenement, 2. --Blount. Wharton. 2. One who has possession of any place; a dweller; an occupant. ``Sweet tenants of this grove.'' --Cowper. The hhappy tenant of your shade. --Cowley. The sister tenants of the middle deep. --Byron. Tenant in capite [L. in in + capite, abl. of caput head, chief.], or Tenant in chief, by the laws of England, one who holds immediately of the king. According to the feudal system, all lands in England are considered as held immediately or mediately of the king, who is styled lord paramount. Such tenants, however, are considered as having the fee of the lands and permanent possession. --Blackstone. Tenant in common. See under Common.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tenant Ten"ant, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tenanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Tenanting.] To hold, occupy, or possess as a tenant. Sir Roger's estate is tenanted by persons who have served him or his ancestors. --Addison.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(tenants) A tenant is someone who pays rent for the place they live in, or for land or buildings that they use. N-COUNT see also sitting tenant

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Occupier, occupant, resident, dweller, lessee, renter.

Moby Thesaurus

abide, addressee, artist-in-residence, berth, board-and-roomer, boarder, bunk, cohabit, denizen, domicile, domiciliate, doss down, dwell, dweller, habitant, hang out, hirer, homesteader, house detective, incumbent, inhabit, inhabitant, inhabiter, inmate, inpatient, intern, leaseholder, lessee, live, live-in maid, locum tenens, lodge, lodger, nest, occupant, occupier, occupy, paying guest, people, perch, populate, remain, renter, reside, residencer, resident, resident physician, residentiary, resider, room, roomer, roost, sojourner, squat, squatter, stay, sublessee, subtenant, tenant at sufferance, tenant for life, transient, transient guest, underlessee