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 of tenement

• 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

Remember the Jets used to leak like century-old Bronx tenement pipes during the Robert Saleh regime. —Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 23 Apr. 2026

The novel begins with a deadly fire that destroys two tenements. —Danielle Parker, CBS News, 21 Apr. 2026

George Ryoichi Ariyoshi was born March 12, 1926, in a two-room tenement near Honolulu Harbor to parents who immigrated to Hawaii from Japan. —ABC News, 20 Apr. 2026

What if the education system taught kids how to cook good food and grow a garden, even on the balcony of a tenement apartment? —Aaron Everitt, STAT, 10 Apr. 2026

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