tenure

English

Etymology

From Middle English tenure, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French tenure, from Vulgar Latin *tenitura, from *tenitus, from Latin tentus (from teneō) + -ura.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛn.jʊə/, /ˈtɛn.jə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛn.jɚ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

tenure (countable and uncountable, plural tenures)

1. A status of possessing a thing or an office; an incumbency.
   • 1781 (date written), William Cowper, “Expostulation”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1782, →OCLC:

     All that seems thine own, / Held by the tenure of his will alone.

   • 2022 November 16, Christian Wolmar, “Can Merriman use his rail knowledge to make a difference?”, in RAIL, number 970, page 45:

     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.

   • 2024 November 17, Phil McNulty, “England 5-0 Republic of Ireland”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     Carsley 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.

2. A period of time during which something is possessed.
3. A status of having a permanent post with enhanced job security within an academic institution.
4. A right to hold land under the feudal system.

Synonyms

• (a status of possessing a thing or an office): incumbency

Derived terms

• tenure-track

Related terms

• tenant
• tenurial

Translations

status of possessing a thing or an office

• Bulgarian: владе́ние (bg) n (vladénie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 保有 (zh) (bǎoyǒu), 佔有 / 占有 (zh) (zhànyǒu), 擔任 / 担任 (zh) (dānrèn)

• Dutch: bezit (nl) n
• Finnish: omistajuus (fi) (thing); viranhaltijuus (office)
• Galician: tenza (gl)
• German: Besitz (de) m
• Greek: θητεία (el) f (thiteía)
• Hungarian: (objects) birtoklás (hu), tulajdonlás (hu), (office) hivatali idő
• Italian: essere titolare m, permanenza in carica f, gestione (it) f
• Japanese: 保有 (ja) (hoyū)
• Portuguese: tença (pt)
• Romanian: posesie (ro) f
• Russian: владе́ние (ru) n (vladénije), пребыва́ние в до́лжности n (prebyvánije v dólžnosti) (office)
• Spanish: tenencia
• Telugu: పదవీ కాలం (padavī kālaṁ)

period of time possessed

• Bulgarian: период на владеене (period na vladeene)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 保有期 (bǎoyǒuqī), 佔有期 / 占有期 (zhànyǒuqī), 任期 (zh) (rènqī)

• Finnish: omistusaika, virkakausi
• German: Amtszeit (de)
• Greek: κατοχή (el) f (katochí)
• Italian: durata di un incarico f, durata di un mandato f
• Japanese: 保有期間 (hoyū kikan)
• Polish: kadencja (pl) f
• Romanian: durată de mandat f, durata posesiei, termen de stăpânire n
• Russian: срок владе́ния m (srok vladénija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ма̀нда̄т m

  Roman: màndāt (sh) m

• Spanish: antigüedad (es)
• Telugu: పదవీ కాలం (padavī kālaṁ)

status of having a permanent post

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 終身職位 / 终身职位 (zhōngshēn zhíwèi)

• Dutch: vastbenoemd zijn, een vaste benoeming hebben
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: vakinaisuus (fi)
• French: titularisation (fr) f
• German: Bekleidung (de) f, Innehaben n
• Greek: μονιμότητα (el) f (monimótita)
• Hebrew: קביעות f (kviút)
• Hungarian: kinevezés (hu), véglegesítés (hu), állandósítás (hu)
• Italian: essere di ruolo, titolare di una cattedra m
• Japanese: 終身在職権 (shūshin-zaishokken)
• Portuguese: estabilidade (pt) f
• Romanian: posesie (ro) f, ocupare (ro) f
• Russian: пребыва́ние в до́лжности n (prebyvánije v dólžnosti)
• Spanish: titularidad (es) f, permanencia (es) f
• Thai: please add this translation if you can

right to hold land under the feudal system

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 佔有權 / 占有权 (zh) (zhànyǒuquán)

• Finnish: läänitys (fi)
• French: tenure (fr) f
• German: Besitztitel m, Besitzanspruch
• Greek: δικαίωμα γαιοκτησίας f (dikaíoma gaioktisías)
• Hungarian: földbirtoklás (hu), földtulajdonlás, földtulajdonjog
• Italian: godimento di un terreno m
• Japanese: 世襲 (ja) (seshū)
• Romanian: drept de posesie n

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} ambtstermijn (nl) m
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 임기 (imgi)
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 佔有權 / 占有权 (zh) (zhànyǒuquán), ^{(please verify)} 占有权 (zh) (zhànyǒuquán)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} arrendamiento (es) m

Verb

tenure (third-person singular simple present tenures, present participle tenuring, simple past and past participle tenured)

1. (transitive) To grant tenure, the status of having a permanent academic position, to (someone).

Translations

to grant tenure

• Hungarian: véglegesít (hu), állandósít (hu), kinevez (hu)
• Portuguese: efetivar (pt)

Anagrams

• neuter, retune, run tee, tureen, untree

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tə.nyʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

tenure f (plural tenures)

1. (historical) tenure (right to hold land under the feudal system)

Further reading

• “tenure”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• eurent, neutre, retenu, teneur

Middle English

Noun

tenure

1. Alternative form of tenour

Old French

Alternative forms

• teneure (common), teneüre, tenëure (diaereses are not universally used in Old French transcriptions)
• tenuire
• tennure
• tenour
• tenuere

Noun

tenure oblique singular, f (oblique plural tenures, nominative singular tenure, nominative plural tenures)

1. tenure (right to hold land under the feudal system)
2. holding (of land); estate
3. tenure, right of possession
   • 1283, Philippe de Beaumanoir, Les Coutumes de Beauvaisis, available in page 237 of this document

     le longue tenure qu'il alliguent ne lor vaut riens

     The long tenure that they are claiming is worth nothing to them

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (teneure)
• tenure on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub