tenement

[ ten-uh-muhnt ]

noun

1. Also called tenement house. a run-down and often overcrowded apartment house, especially in a poor section of a large city.
2. Law.
   1. any species of permanent property, as lands, houses, rents, an office, or a franchise, that may be held of another.
   2. tenements, freehold interests in things immovable considered as subjects of property.
3. British. an apartment or room rented by a tenant.
4. Archaic. any abode or habitation.

tenement

/ ˈtɛnəmənt; ˌtɛnəˈmɛntəl /

noun

1. Also calledtenement building (now esp in Scotland) a large building divided into separate flats
2. a dwelling place or residence, esp one intended for rent
3. a room or flat for rent
4. property law any form of permanent property, such as land, dwellings, offices, etc

Derived Forms

• tenemental, adjective
• ˈteneˌmented, adjective

Other Words From

• ten·e·men·tal [ten-, uh, -, men, -tl], ten·e·men·ta·ry [ten-, uh, -, men, -t, uh, -ree], adjective
• tene·ment·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tenement¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Medieval Latin tenēmentum, equivalent to Latin tenē ( re ) to hold + -mentum -ment

Word History and Origins

Origin of tenement¹

C14: from Medieval Latin tenementum, from Latin tenēre to hold

Example Sentences

Born Josephine Occhiuto in Brooklyn, she grew up in a walk-up tenement building.

From Time

The Progressive Era was an age of civic experimentation at the level of the tenement, neighborhood, city, and state.

From Time

She got involved with the early labor movement and with tenement reform.

From The Daily Beast

You've seen gingerbread houses...but have you ever made your own gingerbread tenement?

From The Daily Beast

The road led to an old fashioned, high gabled farm-house at the foot of the hill; the only tenement visible from that lonely spot.

From Project Gutenberg

Sam was lowered first to the roof of the tenement which we have said was already on fire, and stood ready to receive Liz.

From Project Gutenberg

Looking back through the rear window, he saw Carlson turn up a narrow walk between two tenement buildings.

From Project Gutenberg

Governor Street was just as dirty and squalid as any other tenement-house street in the poorer section of a middle-class city.

From Project Gutenberg

He has a wife and seven children living down on Governor Street, in a miserable tenement.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• rookery
• slum