From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Tenement \Ten"e*ment\, n. [OF. tenement a holding, a fief, F.
t[`e]nement, LL. tenementum, fr. L. tenere to hold. See
{Tenant}.]
1. (Feud. Law) That which is held of another by service;
property which one holds of a lord or proprietor in
consideration of some military or pecuniary service; fief;
fee.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Common Law) Any species of permanent property that may be
held, so as to create a tenancy, as lands, houses, rents,
commons, an office, an advowson, a franchise, a right of
common, a peerage, and the like; -- called also {free
tenements} or {frank tenements}.
[1913 Webster]
The thing held is a tenement, the possessor of it a
"tenant," and the manner of possession is called
"tenure." --Blackstone.
[1913 Webster]
3. A dwelling house; a building for a habitation; also, an
apartment, or suite of rooms, in a building, used by one
family; often, a house erected to be rented.
[1913 Webster]
4. Fig.: Dwelling; abode; habitation.
[1913 Webster]
Who has informed us that a rational soul can inhabit
no tenement, unless it has just such a sort of
frontispiece? --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
5. A {tenement house}.
[PJC]
{Tenement house}, commonly, a dwelling house erected for the
purpose of being rented, and divided into separate
apartments or tenements for families. The term is often
applied to apartment houses occupied by poor families,
often overcrowded and in poor condition.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
Syn: House; dwelling; habitation.
Usage: {Tenement}, {House}. There may be many houses under
one roof, but they are completely separated from each
other by party walls. A tenement may be detached by
itself, or it may be part of a house divided off for
the use of a family. In modern usage, a tenement or
tenement house most commonly refers to the meaning
given for {tenement house}, above.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
tenement
n 1: a run-down apartment house barely meeting minimal standards
[syn: {tenement}, {tenement house}]
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