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

The second story follows the journey of Tateh (Brandon Uranowitz), the Latvian immigrant and his Little Girl (Tabitha Lawing), from New York’s tenements to factory exploitation in a mill town to his re-invention as a populist filmmaker in a nascent industry. —Frank Rizzo, Variety, 17 Oct. 2025

Miller begins at the beginning, the 1910 Sicilian migration to America where the Scorseses settled in a Soho tenement. —Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 13 Oct. 2025

At one point, Lloyd tells the students about a parade near the Moores' tenement, celebrating the passage of the 15th Amendment, which granted Black men the right to vote. —Cory Turner, NPR, 10 Oct. 2025

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

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