Meanings
plural tenures
- countableuncountableA status of possessing a thing or an office; an incumbency.
All that seems thine own, / Held by the tenure of his will alone.
1781 (date written), William Cowper, “Expostulation”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1782, →OCLC2 more examples
It will be rather entertaining to watch Merriman when he first faces the Transport Select Committee, with his former colleagues likely to be merciless in their questioning. During his tenure, Merriman was pretty sharp, which was no bad thing, and they will make sure he gets a dose of his own medicine.
2022 November 16, Christian Wolmar, “Can Merriman use his rail knowledge to make a difference?”, in RAIL, number 970, page 45Carsley ended his six-game tenure as England's interim manager in the same way he started it, with a comfortable victory over the nation he represented with distinction as a player.
2024 November 17, Phil McNulty, “England 5-0 Republic of Ireland”, in BBC SportSynonyms: incumbency
- countableuncountableA period of time during which something is possessed.
- countableuncountableA status of having a permanent post with enhanced job security within an academic institution.
- countableuncountableA right to hold land under the feudal system.
present singular third person tenures · participle present tenuring · participle past tenured · past tenured
- transitiveTo grant tenure, the status of having a permanent academic position, to (someone).
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA status of possessing a thing or an office; an incumbency.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe right to hold property; part of an ancient hierarchical system of holding lands
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latintentus
- Vulgar Latin*tenitura
- Old Frenchtenure
- Middle Englishtenure
- Englishtenure
From Middle English tenure, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French tenure, from Vulgar Latin *tenitura, from *tenitus, from Latin tentus (from teneō) + -ura.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Vulgar Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian владе́ние, период на владеене
- владе́ние (vladénie)status of possessing a thing or an office
- период на владеене (period na vladeene)period of time possessed
Chinese Mandarin 保有, 佔有 /占有
- 保有 (bǎoyǒu)status of possessing a thing or an office
- 佔有 /占有 (zhànyǒu)status of possessing a thing or an office
- 擔任 /担任 (dānrèn)status of possessing a thing or an office
- 保有期 (bǎoyǒuqī)period of time possessed
- 佔有期 /占有期 (zhànyǒuqī)period of time possessed
- 任期 (rènqī)period of time possessed
- 終身職位 /终身职位 (zhōngshēn zhíwèi)status of having a permanent post
- 佔有權 /占有权 (zhànyǒuquán)right to hold land under the feudal system
Dutch bezit, vastbenoemd zijn
- bezitstatus of possessing a thing or an office
- vastbenoemd zijnstatus of having a permanent post
- een vaste benoeming hebbenstatus of having a permanent post
Finnish omistajuus, viranhaltijuus
- omistajuusstatus of possessing a thing or an office
- viranhaltijuusstatus of possessing a thing or an office
- omistusaikaperiod of time possessed
- virkakausiperiod of time possessed
- vakinaisuusstatus of having a permanent post
- läänitysright to hold land under the feudal system
French titularisation, tenure
- titularisationstatus of having a permanent post
- tenureright to hold land under the feudal system
German Besitz, Amtszeit
- Besitzstatus of possessing a thing or an office
- Amtszeitperiod of time possessed
- Bekleidungstatus of having a permanent post
- Innehabenstatus of having a permanent post
- Inhaberschaftstatus of having a permanent post
- Besitztitelright to hold land under the feudal system
- Besitzanspruchright to hold land under the feudal system
Greek θητεία, κατοχή
- θητεία (thiteía)status of possessing a thing or an office
- κατοχή (katochí)period of time possessed
- μονιμότητα (monimótita)status of having a permanent post
- δικαίωμα γαιοκτησίας (dikaíoma gaioktisías)right to hold land under the feudal system
Hebrew קביעות
- קביעות (kviút)status of having a permanent post
Hungarian birtoklás, tulajdonlás
- birtoklásstatus of possessing a thing or an office
- tulajdonlásstatus of possessing a thing or an office
- hivatali időstatus of possessing a thing or an office
- kinevezésstatus of having a permanent post
- véglegesítésstatus of having a permanent post
- állandósításstatus of having a permanent post
- földbirtoklásright to hold land under the feudal system
- földtulajdonlásright to hold land under the feudal system
- földtulajdonjogright to hold land under the feudal system
- véglegesítto grant tenure
- állandósítto grant tenure
- kinevezto grant tenure
Italian essere titolare, permanenza in carica
- essere titolarestatus of possessing a thing or an office
- permanenza in caricastatus of possessing a thing or an office
- gestionestatus of possessing a thing or an office
- durata di un incaricoperiod of time possessed
- durata di un mandatoperiod of time possessed
- essere di ruolostatus of having a permanent post
- titolare di una cattedrastatus of having a permanent post
- godimento di un terrenoright to hold land under the feudal system
Japanese 保有, 保有期間
- 保有 (hoyū)status of possessing a thing or an office
- 保有期間 (hoyū kikan)period of time possessed
- 終身在職権 (shūshin-zaishokken)status of having a permanent post
- 世襲 (seshū)right to hold land under the feudal system
Polish kadencja
- kadencjaperiod of time possessed
Portuguese tença, estabilidade
- tençastatus of possessing a thing or an office
- estabilidadestatus of having a permanent post
- efetivarto grant tenure
Romanian posesie, durată de mandat
- posesiestatus of possessing a thing or an office
- durată de mandatperiod of time possessed
- durata posesieiperiod of time possessed
- termen de stăpânireperiod of time possessed
- posesiestatus of having a permanent post
- ocuparestatus of having a permanent post
- drept de posesieright to hold land under the feudal system
Russian владе́ние, пребыва́ние в до́лжности
- владе́ние (vladénije)status of possessing a thing or an office
- пребыва́ние в до́лжности (prebyvánije v dólžnosti)status of possessing a thing or an office
- срок владе́ния (srok vladénija)period of time possessed
- пребыва́ние в до́лжности (prebyvánije v dólžnosti)status of having a permanent post
Spanish tenencia, antigüedad
- tenenciastatus of possessing a thing or an office
- antigüedadperiod of time possessed
- titularidadstatus of having a permanent post
- permanenciastatus of having a permanent post
- cátedrastatus of having a permanent post
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tenure. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tenure
“tenure.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tenure. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tenure,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tenure.
Source: tenure on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.