I. ˈtenənt noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English tenaunt, tenant, from Middle French tenant, from present participle of tenir to hold — more at tenable
1.
a. : one who holds or possesses real estate or sometimes personal property (as an annuity) by any kind of right (as in fee simple, in common, in severalty, for life, for years, or at will)
b. : one who has the occupation or temporary possession of lands or tenements the title of which is in another ; specifically : one who rents or leases (as land or a house) from a landlord
2. : one that has possession of a place : dweller , inhabitant , occupant
it is the tenants of this upper gallery who … make all the noise and uproar — Eugene Burr
grass is the best possible tenant for our far-spread domain of retired and resting lands — C.E.Wilson
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
: to hold, occupy, or possess as a tenant : inhabit
won some measure of relief by being allowed to tenant the bogs — Irish Digest
broad and pleasant meadow … tenanted by the summer camps of the shepherds — Douglas Carruthers
intransitive verb
: to occupy a place as a tenant