tenement Hear it!

tenement Definition

ten·ement (tenə mənt)

noun

  1. Law land, buildings, offices, franchises, etc. held of another by tenure
  2. a dwelling house
  3. a room or set of rooms tenanted as a separate dwelling; apartment; flat
  4. tenement house
  5. Old Poet. a dwelling place; abode

Etymology: ME < OFr, a holding < ML tenementum < L tenere, to hold: see tenant

tenement Related Forms
ten′·emen·tal adjective or ten′·emen·tary
tenement Synonyms

tenement

n.

apartment house, tenement house, slum dwelling, project, housing project, low-income housing, eyesore*, firetrap*; see also home 1, hotel.

tenement Law Definition

n

  1. Any building, structure, or house attached to the land.
  2. Any property held by freehold.
  3. A building used as a residence. See also tenement house.
dominant tenement
Property that carries with it the right to use part of an adjoining property.
servient tenement
Property that contains features used by occupier of adjoining property, as with an easement.
tenement Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • overcrowd: It provided practical training in mission work among the overcrowded tenements of the Pleasance, the Cowgate and the adjacent closes.
  • occupy: Harvey sold the remainder of his term to Thomas Jumper, gentleman, who paid the rent and occupied the tenement from 1631.
  • grant: Barker was still tenant in 1540, when the Crown granted the tenement to him rent free for life.
  • hold: From a tenement held by: John Davy £ 1 6s 8d; John Barbour £ 1 6s 8d.

Adjective modifier

  • servient: The land or property which is burdened is called the servient tenement.
  • customary: In 1641 Helden was admitted to the customary tenement, then called the Prison House, which his widow Frances held in 1656.
  • dilapidated: Mill Street also included a complex of crowded and dilapidated tenements offering accommodation to the poorest in society ( Trinder 1982, 9 ).
  • adjoining: In less than an hour the three adjoining tenements were ablaze.
  • adjacent: It appears to have been an area of wet grazing shared by the farmers of the adjacent tenements in the post medieval period.
  • tall: Street after street of tall tenements stand empty, their shattered windows open and gaping to the sky.

Modifies a noun

  • block: The tenement blocks on each side of the Citadel, comprising 21 flats, are to be sold off.
  • flat: For most tenement flats, the escape route will be through the common stair, reached from the entrance door of each flat.
  • plot: The areas between the street were divided into tenement plots in the late 9th century.
  • building: The steep cobbled lane to the right of the tenement building is Gloucester Street.

Noun used with modifier

  • copyhold: It was evidently distinct from the copyhold tenement called Fosters.
  • sandstone: The gap in the sandstone tenements is Spottiswoode Street.
  • stone: The Old Assembly Hall was a great hall or room the great stone tenement built by Wm.

Preposition: in

  • parish: Buckland priory had at least three tenements in the parish attached to their manor of North Petherton.
  • occupation: Lot 5 Double tenements in occupation of William Golding anf John Tarbun.

Preposition: with

  • appurtenance: Johannis Judd, nephew, son of Thomas Judd, brother, 2 customary messuages or tenements with appurtenances?
tenement Quotes

I inhabit a weak, frail, decayed tenement; battered by the winds and broken in on by the storms, and, from all I can learn, the landlord does not intend to repair.

—Adams,John Quincy

Browse dictionary entries near tenement

  1. Tenedos
  2. tenebrous
  3. tenebrific
  4. Tenebrae
  5. tendril
  6. tendresse
  7. tendon
  8. tendinous
  9. tendinitis
  10. tending
  1. tenement house
  2. Tenerife
  3. tenesmus
  4. tenet
  5. tenfold
  6. tenge
  7. Tengri Nor
  8. tenia
  9. Teniers
  10. Tenn