'Tenant' is Latin for 'one who holds' — originally holding land from a feudal lord. Now any renter.
A person who occupies land or property rented from a landlord; one who holds or possesses something temporarily.
From Old French 'tenant' (holding, possessing), the present participle of 'tenir' (to hold), from Latin 'tenēre' (to hold, to keep, to possess), from PIE *ten- (to stretch, to hold firm). A 'tenant' is literally 'one who holds' — the feudal legal term for the person who held land from a lord in exchange for service, homage, or rent. In the feudal pyramid, the king held all land ultimately; barons held from the king, knights held from barons, and villeins held from knights. 'Tenant-in-chief' meant one
The word 'lieutenant' literally means 'place-holder' — from French 'lieu' (place) and 'tenant' (holding). A lieutenant is one who holds the place of a superior officer in their absence. The British pronunciation 'leftenant' is a mystery that has puzzled linguists for centuries; the most plausible theory is that it stems from a medieval spelling variant 'leuf-' reflecting an Old French pronunciation where the 'u' in 'lieu' was read