Word Confusion: Tenant versus Tenet

Revised as of
12 July 2023

There are four main tenants, or is it tenets?, to social marketing for authors. Hmmm, tenants of social marketing . . . I suppose you could consider Hugh Howey a tenant of social marketing. After all, his books sell like hotcakes, and he does spend a LOT of time social marketing, so I suppose you could think of him living within social media.

I must confess, I should think tenets might be a more practical term to apply to social marketing. No offense to Howey, and I’m sure he incorporates the four tenets, rules that is, of social marketing.

Religion-wise, a number of faiths believe in the tenet: do unto others. And I don’t think it means for us to move in on each other . . .!

On the one hand . . .	. . . and On the Other
Hey, Joe, I hear ya got a new tenant? Someone new has moved in.	Hey, Joe, I hear ya got a new tenet? Joe has a new belief or rule.
Those lousy tenants of mine . . . What? They’re not paying the rent? They’re trashing the place?	Those lousy tenets of mine . . . Hey, if you don’t like the rules . . .
If you believe in the tenant of true love . . . Um, someone is living in . . .? No, I can’t even wrap my head around this. Not even at my snarkiest.	If you believe in the tenet of true love . . . How would you interpret “true love”? Are there rules for it?

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Tenant	Tenet
Tenant Power by Rod Raglin is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr.	Depicting Basic Tenets of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy by Urstadt is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikmedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Noun 1; Verb 2, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: tenants Gerund: tenanting Third person present verb: tenants Past tense or past participle: tenanted Present participle: tenanting	Noun Plural: tenets
Noun: A person who occupies land or property rented from a landlord 1 [Law] A person holding real property by private ownership Verb, intransitive: [Usually tenanted in] To dwell or live 2 Verb, transitive: [Usually be tenanted] To hold or occupy as a tenant 2 Dwell in Inhabit	A principle or belief, especially one of the main principles of a religion or philosophy
Examples:
Noun: The landlord needs to find a more reliable tenant. Only tenants are allowed to use the pool. Tenant rights must be observed. Verb, intransitive: Though intended for retail use, it was never fully tenanted, and its potential was never fully realized. My description can give no idea how suddenly the fountain was thus tenanted , and how soon it was left desolated. Verb, transitive: The family did not sell the house, which was both tenanted and in disrepair. Sometimes it is only particular sorts of trees that are supposed to be tenanted by spirits.	The tenets of classical liberalism advocate free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy; limited government; economic freedom; political freedom; and, freedom of speech. There is a long-held tenet that plumbers’ and shoemakers’ families cope with the need for repairs. It’s a basic tenet of the church. Non-violence is the central tenet of their faith.
Derivatives:
Adjective: tenantable, tenantless, tenantlike, nontenantable Noun: nontenant
History of the Word:
Its first known use as a noun in the 14th century. Late 13th century Anglo-French tenaunt meaning person who holds lands by title or by lease and from the 12th century Old French tenant. Noun use of present participle of tenir, meaning to hold, from the Latin tenere, meaning hold, keep. Its first known use as a verb in 1634.	Its first known use was circa 1600. Late 16th century (superseding the earlier tenent) is from the Latin, literally he holds, from the verb tenere.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Tenant versus Tenet

Apple Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com provided a definition for tenant and sentence examples of its verb usage

The Free Dictionary: tenet

Merriam-Webster: tenant

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Pinterest Photo Credits:

This Pinterest pin is a derivative of two images: Tenants of the Trees, plate 1, by Clarence Hawkes under the CC BY 2.0 license and is sandwiched between an exploded version of Tienhaarassa (1896) by Hugo Simberg, which is in the public domain; both are via Wikimedia Commons.