Where does “tenant” come from?
Tenant comes from Old French tenant, from Latin tenēns, the present participle of Latin tenēre meaning "to hold," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ten-.
tenant (English): One who pays a fee in return for the use of...
Definitions
- One who pays a fee in return for the use of...
Ancestry of “tenant”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | tenaunt | — |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | tenaunt | Alternative form of tenant; Alternative form of... |
| 3 | Old French | tenant | holder |
| 4 | Latin | tenens | holding, having; restraining; knowing, grasping,... |
| 5 | Latin | teneō | to hold, have; to grasp |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | tenēō | to hold |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ten- | to stretch, to extend |