tenure

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: ten=ure

CIDE DICTIONARY

tenure, n. [F. tenure, OF. teneure, fr. F. tenir to hold. See Tenable.].

•  The act or right of holding, as property, especially real estate.  [1913 Webster]

  "That the tenure of estates might rest on equity, the Indian title to lands was in all cases to be quieted."  [1913 Webster]
•  The manner of holding lands and tenements of a superior.  [1913 Webster]

  " Tenure is inseparable from the idea of property in land, according to the theory of the English law; and this idea of tenure pervades, to a considerable extent, the law of real property in the United States, where the title to land is essentially allodial, and almost all lands are held in fee simple, not of a superior, but the whole right and title to the property being vested in the owner. Tenure, in general, then, is the particular manner of holding real estate, as by exclusive title or ownership, by fee simple, by fee tail, by courtesy, in dower, by copyhold, by lease, at will, etc."  [1913 Webster]
•  The consideration, condition, or service which the occupier of land gives to his lord or superior for the use of his land.  [1913 Webster]
•  Manner of holding, in general; as, in absolute governments, men hold their rights by a precarious tenure.  [1913 Webster]

  "All that seems thine own,
  Held by the tenure of his will alone."  [1913 Webster]

Tenure by fee alms. (Law) See Frankalmoigne.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

tenure, n.
1 a condition, or form of right or title, under which (esp. real) property is held.
2 (often foll. by of) a the holding or possession of an office or property. b the period of this (during his tenure of office).
3 guaranteed permanent employment, esp. as a teacher or lecturer after a probationary period.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. tenir hold f. L tenere

THESAURUS

tenure

adverse possession, alodium, appointment, berth, billet, burgage, claim, clamp, clasp, clench, clinch, clutch, colony, continuous tenure, de facto, de jure, dependency, derivative title, duration, employment, engagement, enlistment, fee fief, fee position, fee simple, fee simple absolute, fee simple conditional, fee simple defeasible, fee simple determinable, fee tail, feodum, feud, fiefdom, frankalmoign, free socage, freehold, gavelkind, gig, grapple, grasp, grip, gripe, having title to, hitch, hold, holding, incumbency, job, knight service, lay fee, lease, leasehold, legal claim, legal possession, mandate, moonlighting, occupancy, occupation, office, opening, original title, owning, permanence, permanency, place, position, possessing, possession, post, preoccupancy, preoccupation, prepossession, prescription, prison term, property, property rights, proprietary rights, residence, residency, second job, seisin, service, situation, socage, spell, squatting, station, stretch, sublease, tenancy, tenantry, tenure in chivalry, term, time, title, tour, underlease, undertenancy, usucapion, vacancy, villein socage, villeinhold, villenage

ROGET THESAURUS

tenure

Possession

N possession, seizin, seisin, ownership, occupancy, hold, holding, tenure, tenancy, feodality, dependency, villenage, villeinage, socage, chivalry, knight service, exclusive possession, impropriation, monopoly, retention, prepossession, preoccupancy, nine points of the law, corner, usucaption, future possession, heritage, inheritance, heirship, reversion, fee, seigniority, primogeniture, ultimogeniture, futures contract, warrant, put, call, option, right of first refusal, bird in hand, uti possidetis, chose in possession, possessing, worth, possessed of, seized of, master of, in possession of, usucapient, endowed with, blest with, instinct with, fraught with, laden with, charged with, possessed, on hand, by one, in hand, in store, in stock, in one's hands, in one's grasp, in one's possession, at one's command, at one's disposal, one's own, unsold, unshared, entbehre gern was du nicht hast, meum et tuum, tuum est.

Property

N property, possession, suum cuique, meum et tuum, ownership, proprietorship, lordship, seignority, empire, interest, stake, estate, right, title, claim, demand, holding, tenure, vested interest, contingent interest, beneficial interest, equitable interest, use, trust, benefit, legal estate, equitable estate, seizin, seisin, absolute interest, paramount estate, freehold, fee tail, fee simple, estate in fee, estate in tail, estate tail, estate in tail male, estate in tail female, estate in tail general, limitation, term, lease, settlement, strict settlement, particular estate, estate for life, estate for years, estate pur autre vie, remainder, reversion, expectancy, possibility, dower, dowry, jointure, appanage, inheritance, heritage, patrimony, alimony, legacy, Falcidian law, paternal estate, thirds, assets, belongings, means, resources, circumstances, wealth, money, what one is worth, what one will cut up for, estate and effects, landed property, landed real estate property, realty, land, lands, tenements, hereditaments, corporeal hereditaments, incorporeal hereditaments, acres, ground, acquest, messuage, toft, territory, state, kingdom, principality, realm, empire, protectorate, sphere of influence, manor, honor, domain, demesne, farm, plantation, hacienda, allodium, fief, fieff, feoff, feud, zemindary, dependency, arado, merestead, ranch, free lease-holds, copy lease-holds, folkland, chattels real, fixtures, plant, heirloom, easement, right of common, right of user, personal property, personal estate, personal effects, personalty, chattels, goods, effects, movables, stock, stock in trade, things, traps, rattletraps, paraphernalia, equipage, parcels, appurtenances, impedimenta, luggage, baggage, bag and baggage, pelf, cargo, lading, rent roll, income, maul and wedges, patent, copyright, chose in action, credit, debt, one's own, landed, predial, manorial, allodial, free lease-hold, copy lease-hold, feudal, feodal, to one's credit, to one's account, to the good, to one and his heirs for ever, to one and the heirs of his body, to one and his heirs and assigns, to one and his executors administrators and assign.

Dueness

N due, dueness, right, privilege, prerogative, prescription, title, claim, pretension, demand, birthright, immunity, license, liberty, franchise, vested interest, vested right, sanction, authority, warranty, charter, warrant, constitution, tenure, bond, claimant, appellant, plaintiff, having a right to, entitled to, claiming, deserving, meriting, worthy of, privileged, allowed, sanctioned, warranted, authorized, ordained, prescribed, constitutional, chartered, enfranchised, prescriptive, presumptive, absolute, indefeasible, unalienable, inalienable, imprescriptible, inviolable, unimpeachable, unchallenged, sacrosanct, due to, merited, deserved, condign, richly deserved, allowable, lawful, licit, legitimate, legal, legalized, square, unexceptionable, right, equitable, due, en r gle, fit, fitting, correct, proper, meet, befitting, becoming, seemly, decorous, creditable, up to the mark, right as a trivet, just the thing, quite the thing, selon les r gles, duly, ex officio, de jure, by right, by divine right, jure divino, Dei gratia, in the name of, civis Romanus sum, +a chaque saint sa chandelle.