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Definition of tenement noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

tenement

noun
 
/ˈtenəmənt/
 
/ˈtenəmənt/
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  1. a large building divided into flats, especially in a poor area of a city
    • a tenement block
    • families living in overcrowded tenements
    • living in a crowded tenement
    Topics Buildingsc2, Social issuesc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • cramped
    • overcrowded
    • squalid
    • …
    tenement + noun
    • apartment
    • block
    • building
    • …
    preposition
    • in a/​the tenement
    See full entry
    Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘tenure, property held by tenure’): via Old French from medieval Latin tenementum, from tenere ‘to hold’.
See tenement in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
Check pronunciation: tenement

Nearby words

trait
noun
 
 
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