tenant

English

Alternative forms

• tenaunt (obsolete)
• tennant (obsolete)
• tennaunt (obsolete)

Etymology

First attested 1325, from Anglo-Norman tenaunt, from Old French tenant, present participle of tenir (“to hold”), from Latin tenēre, present active infinitive of teneō (“hold, keep”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtɛ.nənt/, enPR: tĕnənt
• Rhymes: -ɛnənt

Noun

Wikipedia tenant (plural tenants)

1. One who pays a fee (rent) in return for the use of land, buildings, or other property owned by others.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Arthur Morrison, The Thing in the Upper Room:

     Long even before the last tenant had occupied it, the room had been regarded with fear and aversion, and the end of that last tenant had in no way lightened the gloom that hung about the place.

2. An occupant.
3. (law) One who holds a property by any kind of right, including ownership.

Synonyms

• lessee

Derived terms

• tenancy
• tenantless
• tenantry

Related terms

• tenure‎

Translations

one who pays a fee in return for the use of land, etc.

• Catalan: llogater (ca) m; inquilí (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 房客 (cmn) (fángkè), (farmer) 佃戶 (cmn), 佃户 (cmn) (diànhù), 租戶 (cmn), 租户 (cmn) (zūhù)

• Czech: nájemce (cs) m
• Dutch: pachter (nl) m
• Finnish: vuokralainen (fi), vuokraaja (fi), vuokramies (fi), torppari (fi)
• French: locataire (fr)
• German: Mieter (de) m, Pächter (de) m
• Greek: ενοικιαστής (el) (enoikiastís) m , μισθωτής (el) (misthotís) m 
• Hungarian: jobbágy (hu) (only in The Middle Ages, villein)
• Italian: inquilino (it), locatario (it)
• Japanese: 借地人 (ja) (shakuchi-nin), (farmer): 小作人 (ja) (kosaku-nin)

• Jèrriais: locataithe m and f
• Norwegian: leieboer (no) m
• Persian: مست (fa), مستاجر (fa) (mosta'jer)
• Polish: dzierżawca (pl) m, najemca (pl) m
• Portuguese: inquilino (pt) m
• Russian: арендатор (ru) (arendátor) m , съёмщик (ru) (s”jómščik) m , квартиросъёмщик (ru) (kvartiros”jómščik) m  (of an apartment)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: станар (sh) m, станарка (sh) f

  Roman: stanar (sh) m, stanarka (sh) f

• Spanish: inquilino (es)
• Swedish: (of an apartment) hyresgäst (sv) c, (usually of land) arrendator (sv) c

occupant

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 房客 (cmn) (fángkè)

• Dutch: bewoner (nl) m, huurder (nl) m
• Finnish: asukas (fi)
• French: occupant (fr) m

• German: Bewohner (de) m, Mieter (de) m
• Greek: ένοικος (el) (énoikos) m and f 
• Japanese: 借り主 (ja) (kari-nushi)
• Russian: жилец (ru) (žiléc) m , квартиросъёмщик (ru) (kvartiros”jómščik) m  (of an apartment)

law: one who holds property

• Finnish: (kiinteistön) haltija (fi)
• Greek: νομέας (el) (noméas) m , επικαρπωτής (el) (epikarpotís) m 

• Japanese: 賃借人 (ja) (chinshaku-nin), 賃借人 (ja) (chingari-nin)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: huurder
• Italian: inquilino
• Swedish: Arrendera
• Serbo-Croatian: stanar, zakupac
• Slovak: nájomník m, nájomca m
• Spanish: inquilino (es) m

See also

• tenet

Verb

tenant (third-person singular simple present tenants, present participle tenanting, simple past and past participle tenanted)

1. To hold as, or be, a tenant.

Translations

to hold as, or be, a tenant

• Finnish: vuokrata (fi)
• Greek: ενοικιάζω (el) (enoikiázo) , μισθώνω (el) (misthóno) 

• Japanese: (land): 土地を借りる (ja) (tochi wo kariru)
• Swedish: hyra (sv), arrendera (sv)

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French

Verb

tenant

1. Present participle of tenir.

Anagrams

• entant

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Old French

Verb

tenant

1. Present participle of tenir.