tenement
noun
ten·e·ment
ˈte-nə-mənt 
1
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
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 church is tucked into a street of 19th-century tenements between Avenues A and B in the East Village, a neighborhood that once embodied New York’s bohemian clichés.
—
Leonardo Bevilacqua, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 June 2024
Ten days after the murder, a landlord sniffed gas coming from an apartment in his tenement boarding house in lower Manhattan.
—Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 2 June 2024
Her tour of the tenements opened her eyes to the horrific living conditions of her city's poor.
—Domenica Bongiovanni, The Indianapolis Star, 12 Aug. 2016
Trudy’s swim inspires the whole world, including her hometown of New York City, the tenement buildings filled with immigrants listening to her journey on the radio.
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for tenement 
Leonardo Bevilacqua, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 June 2024
Ten days after the murder, a landlord sniffed gas coming from an apartment in his tenement boarding house in lower Manhattan.
—Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 2 June 2024
Her tour of the tenements opened her eyes to the horrific living conditions of her city's poor.
—Domenica Bongiovanni, The Indianapolis Star, 12 Aug. 2016
Trudy’s swim inspires the whole world, including her hometown of New York City, the tenement buildings filled with immigrants listening to her journey on the radio.
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for tenement
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tenement.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tenement
Cite this Entry
“Tenement.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenement. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tenement
noun
ten·e·ment
ˈten-ə-mənt
1
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
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