rent

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈrent 

1

: property (such as a house) rented or for rent

2

a

: a usually fixed periodical return made by a tenant or occupant of property to the owner for the possession and use thereof

especially : an agreed sum paid at fixed intervals by a tenant to the landlord

b

: the amount paid by a hirer of personal property to the owner for the use thereof

3

a

: the portion of the income of an economy (as of a nation) attributable to land as a factor of production in addition to capital and labor

b

: economic rent

rent

2 of 4

verb

rented; renting; rents

transitive verb

1

: to grant the possession and enjoyment of in exchange for rent

2

: to take and hold under an agreement to pay rent

intransitive verb

1

: to be for rent

2

a

: to obtain the possession and use of a place or article in exchange for rent

b

: to allow the possession and use of property in exchange for rent

rentability

ˌren-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

rentable

ˈren-tə-bəl 

adjective

rent

3 of 4

past tense and past participle of rend

rent

4 of 4

noun

1

: an opening made by or as if by rending

2

: a split in a party or organized group : schism

3

: an act or instance of rending

Phrases

for rent

: available for use or service in return for payment

Synonyms

Verb

• lease
• let [chiefly British]

Noun

• gash
• incision
• laceration
• rip
• slash
• slit
• tear

Choose the Right Synonym for rent

hire, let, lease, rent, charter mean to engage or grant for use at a price.

hire and let, strictly speaking, are complementary terms, hire implying the act of engaging or taking for use and let the granting of use.

we hired a car for the summer

decided to let the cottage to a young couple

lease strictly implies a letting under the terms of a contract but is often applied to hiring on a lease.

the diplomat leased an apartment for a year

rent stresses the payment of money for the full use of property and may imply either hiring or letting.

instead of buying a house, they decided to rent

will not rent to families with children

charter applies to the hiring or letting of a vehicle usually for exclusive use.

charter a bus to go to the game

Examples of rent in a Sentence

Verb

We rented our friends' cottage for the month of August.

Do you own or rent?

We rented them the upstairs apartment in our house.

The cottage rents for $400 a week.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

After the war, the house was returned to the family that had previously owned it, and it was rented out as a library, then a school and later a bank. —Graham Bowley, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2023

Taiga has rented a berth to demo its jet ski at Westpoint Harbor in the southern part of the Bay Area. —WIRED, 18 Nov. 2023

Yaroslavsky is also in the unusual position of being both a tenant and a landlord, since her family rents a home in Mid City. —Dorany Pineda, Los Angeles Times, 18 Nov. 2023

The chief executive of Uwajimaya, a chain of Asian grocery stores, said many of her employees commute an hour by public bus, have multiple roommates or rent a couch rather than a whole room, because housing costs in the area are so high. —Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2023

But there’s no indication the inspector asked about the sign or followed up to ensure the hotel wasn’t being rented to tourists. —Robin Urevich, ProPublica, 14 Nov. 2023

Ramaswamy, 38, has rented an apartment in Iowa, and the campaign is currently searching for rental housing in New Hampshire for the candidate and his staff. —Katherine Koretski, NBC News, 11 Nov. 2023

The rental agreement for the car showed that it was rented by a man named Luis Rivera. —Alison Lynn, ABC News, 10 Nov. 2023

No one had built neighborhoods there before, so there were no racial or ethnic enclaves (yet), and every unit on the island was rented or sold through affordable-housing programs designed for low- and middle-income New Yorkers. —Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 10 Nov. 2023

Noun

Among other things, Lawson-Remer teamed up with Republican Supervisor Joel Anderson on a pilot program to provide a rent subsidy for low-income older residents who are at imminent risk of becoming homeless. —Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Nov. 2023

Now, concerns about commuting costs, gas prices and rent are often front of mind. —Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2023

Renting a single-family home is the most expensive option of the three, with the median monthly rent tallying $2,600 as of September. —Khristopher J. Brooks, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2023

Paying rent on your booze may sound odd, but So says that both business and leisure guests request access their locker at least once to twice a week. —Jillian Dara, Robb Report, 16 Nov. 2023

In September, the state had filed a lawsuit alleging that Apex had stopped paying rent for the past year while subleasing the property out to at least five other businesses. —WIRED, 16 Nov. 2023

Sadly, however, for all the kids who dream of living in the treehouse, just as Kevin Kidney once did, none of the rooms are available for rent. —Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2023

At the same time, the largest number of new apartment buildings nationwide in decades are being completed, a trend that is helping slow rent increases. —Christopher Rugaber, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Nov. 2023

Airbnb is tightly restricted while rental caps have forced thousands of landlords to slash rents. —Bertrand Benoit, WSJ, 14 Nov. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English rente, from Anglo-French, payment, income, from Vulgar Latin *rendita, from feminine of *renditus, past participle of *rendere to yield — more at render

Noun

English dialect rent to rend, from Middle English, alteration of renden — more at rend

First Known Use

Noun (1)

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

1535, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing rent

• economic rent
• ground rent
• rack rent
• rent control
• rent strike
• rent-a-cop
• low-rent
• rent-a-car
• for rent

• economic rent
• ground rent
• rack rent
• rent control
• rent strike
• rent-a-cop
• low-rent
• rent-a-car
• for rent

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Kids Definition

rent

1 of 4 noun

ˈrent 

: money paid for the use of property : a periodic payment made by a tenant to the owner for the use of the owner's property

rent

2 of 4 verb

1

: to take and hold property under an agreement to pay rent

2

: to give the possession and use of in return for rent

rented a cottage to friends

3

: to be for rent

the room rents for $40 a week

rentable

-ə-bəl 

adjective

rent

3 of 4

past and past participle of rend

rent

4 of 4 noun

1

: an opening (as in cloth) made by or as if by tearing

2

: an act or instance of tearing

Etymology

Noun

Middle English rente "income from property," from early French rente "payment, income," derived from Latin rendere "to yield"

Noun

from a dialect word rent "to tear," from Middle English renten, an altered form of renden "to tear, rend"

Legal Definition

rent

1 of 2 noun

1

a

: a return made by a tenant or occupant of real property to the owner for possession and use thereof

especially : a sum of money agreed upon between a landlord and tenant for the use of real property

b

in the civil law of Louisiana : a contract by which one party conveys to another to hold as owner a tract of land or other immovable property in perpetuity in exchange for payment of an annual sum or quantity of fruits

c

: the amount paid by a hirer of personal property to the owner for the use thereof

d

: a royalty under a mineral lease

2

: the portion of the income of an economy (as of a nation) attributable to land as a factor of production in addition to capital and labor

rent

2 of 2 transitive verb

1

: to grant the possession and enjoyment of in exchange for rent

2

: to take and hold under an agreement to pay rent

intransitive verb

1

: to be for rent

2

a

: to obtain use and possession of a place or property in exchange for rent

b

: to allow the possession and use of property in exchange for rent

renter noun

also rentor

ˈren-tər