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

The class action lawsuit argued that anyone who bought tickets to the movie or rented it had been misled by Universal. De Armas was cast as a love interest for lead actor Himesh Patel, but her scenes were cut in the final version of the film after test screenings. —Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 16 Apr. 2024

The class action lawyers, led by Cody R. LeJeune, argued that everyone who bought a ticket to the movie or rented it on any platform had, potentially, been duped. —Gene Maddaus, Variety, 16 Apr. 2024

Bad Boys for Life is available to rent or buy on platforms such as Prime Video, Apple TV and Vudu. —Jacqueline Weiss, Peoplemag, 13 Apr. 2024

Two vehicles rented by Rice were involved in the March 30 crash, a Lamborghini and a Corvette, according to his attorney and police. —Nicole Lopez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Apr. 2024

San Diego was the eighth most expensive city to rent in the U.S., Zumper said, with a median $2,330 monthly rate for a one-bedroom. —Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2024

Money from commercial producers is often used to finance shows at nonprofit theaters, and nonprofit theaters are increasingly renting their spaces to commercial producers. —Michael Paulson, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024

Masters of the universe routinely buy or rent out entire islands and small luxury camps. —Linda Laban, Robb Report, 4 Apr. 2024

Izzy's typically rents out about 20 portable toilets on a typical weekend day in April, Lewis said. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 4 Apr. 2024

Noun

Renovations at the 65,000 square-foot building are expected to cost $18 million and rent would be $1.9 million annually over the course of a 35-year lease, with two five-year renewal options. —Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2024

The median gross rent is $2,762, according to the city. —Stephanie Lam, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024

Effective rents are falling, too, by 0.04% in the first quarter. —Byalena Botros, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2024

Finding a place to operate — especially in the expensive real estate market of L.A. — always has been a challenge for charters, a factor that led advocates to push successfully for the legal right to claim public school space at an affordable rent. —Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024

But then rents exploded during the Bloomberg years and aspiring artists got priced out of town, with many more abandoning the city during a long and devastating pandemic from which New York hasn’t yet fully recovered, either economically or psychologically. —Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Apr. 2024

Some also questioned his claims, predicting rents would increase regardless of the referendum. —Quinn Clark, Journal Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2024

As of early March, the county was helping more than 700 formerly homeless veterans pay rent, according to McClain. —Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2024

That meant that 1,300 vouchers that could have gone to pay someone’s monthly rent weren’t being used. —Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024

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

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