n. 1. A building for human habitation, especially one that is rented to tenants. 2. A rundown, low-rental apartment building whose facilities and maintenance barely meet minimum standards. 3. Chiefly British An apartment or room leased to a tenant. 4. Law A property of a permanent nature that is possessed or owned, such as land or a building, along with the rights associated with such possession or ownership. [Middle English, house, from Old French, from Medieval Latin tenēmentum, from Latin tenēre, to hold; see ten- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] ten′e·mental (-mĕntl) adj. |
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