tenant
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a person who pays money to a landlord to live in a house or use an office.
n.an individual or entity that occupies land or property rented from a landlord under a lease agreement.
Simple“The new tenant moved into the apartment on the first of the month.”
In context“The lease agreement clearly outlines the responsibilities of the tenant regarding maintenance and the timely payment of utilities.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'of' followed by the property name.
- 02 C1 Advanced
n.a customer or group that uses one part of a large software system shared by others.
n.a group of users who share a single instance of a software application while keeping their data isolated from other groups.
Simple“Each tenant in the cloud system has its own secure database.”
In context“In a multi-tenant architecture, the application serves multiple customers from a single environment while ensuring strict data segregation between each tenant.”
UsageCommonly found in the context of 'SaaS' (Software as a Service) and cloud computing.
- 03 C2 Proficiency
n.someone in history who held land given to them by a lord or king.
n.a person who held land under the feudal system in exchange for services or rent to a superior.
Simple“The king granted the land to his loyal tenant in exchange for military service.”
In context“Historical records indicate that the tenant-in-chief was responsible for providing knights to the crown during times of conflict.”
Synonyms - 04 C1 Advanced
v.to live in or use a property as a renter.
v.to hold or occupy property as a tenant; to inhabit a space under a rental agreement.
Simple“The building has been tenanted by the same family for three generations.”
In context“The estate was largely tenanted by small-scale farmers who had worked the land since the previous century.”
UsageOften used in the passive voice ('is tenanted by').
Usage tenant with concerns · tenants to identify
“And let’s not forget that social tenants pay rent, which goes back to the public purse and into society.”
“Keisha is exactly the tenant the state's new cooling grant might have been written for.”
From Middle English tenaunt, from Anglo-Norman tenaunt and Old French tenant, present participle of tenir (“to hold”), from Latin tenēre (“hold, keep”).
Possibly just a modification of tenet, but note obsolete tenent (“tenet”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.