tenement

noun

ten·​e·​ment ˈte-nə-mənt 

1

a

: tenement house

b

: apartment, flat

c

: a house used as a dwelling : residence

2

: any of various forms of corporeal property (such as land) or incorporeal property that is held by one person from another

3

: dwelling

Synonyms

• apartment
• penthouse

Examples of tenement in a Sentence

an exhibit of pictures showing the tenements of the New York City neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen during the 1920s

Recent Examples on the Web

In 1909, just a few days after their mother, Sara, gave birth to Daniel, one of these boys, four-year-old George, fell to his death while playing on the roof of their tenement building on the Lower East Side. —David Kamp, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025

Only in New York can a child raised in a tenement in Bushwick, who once worked as a squeegee boy and a mailroom clerk, rise to become mayor. —Oren Oppenheim, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2025

Even as tragedy and struggle beset the tenement districts, the very qualities that defined the tenement’s unfavorable physical conditions—over-crowdedness and density—became building blocks for community. —Annie Polland, Time, 25 Sep. 2025

What follows is one wild, sweltering summer day and night in their East Village tenement, as the two scheme with a crew of eccentric neighbors to cover up a dead body. —Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 22 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, "the holding of property, the property so held, building, dwelling," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin tenementum, tenimentum, teneamentum, from Latin tenēre "to hold, occupy, possess" + -mentum -ment — more at tenant entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing tenement

• tenement house

Rhymes for tenement

• presentiment

Kids Definition

tenement

noun

ten·​e·​ment ˈten-ə-mənt 

1

a

: a house used as a dwelling

b

: apartment sense 1, flat

c

: tenement house

2

: dwelling

Legal Definition

tenement

noun

ten·​e·​ment ˈte-nə-mənt 

1

a

: any of various forms of property (as land) that is held by one person from another

b

: an estate in property

2

: dwelling

Etymology

Anglo-French, from Old French, from Medieval Latin tenementum, from Latin tenēre to hold