Tenant vs. tenet

The nouns tenant and tenet have no meanings in common, but they’re sometimes confused with one another—especially tenant in place of tenet—due to their similarity in sound.

Tenet

Tenet is defined as a principle held as being true, especially by an organization. A few of its synonyms are doctrine, belief, dogma, principle, creed, and maxim. The word has no other meanings. In these examples, tenet is used correctly:

He said it was unethical and goes against the tenets of Islam. [Arab News]

By destroying this very tenet of capitalism – that the losers actually lose so that new ideas, people, companies can become winners – they have now crippled our economy and kept millions out of work. [TPM]

Tenant

Tenant is defined as one that pays rent to occupy property; a dweller in a place; or, in law, one who holds or possesses lands, tenements, or property by any kind of title. Its synonyms are occupant, leaseholder, resident, and occupier. On the web, it’s easy to find mistaken misuse of tenant in place of tenet—for example:

Instead of getting “caught up in price warfare,” Woodhouse said Cracker Barrel focused on one of the central tenants of its brand, honest value. [Nashville Business Journal]

Toiling away in the background of every uncorking are the basic tenants of economics: supply and demand. [Burlington Free Press]

And in these examples, tenant is used correctly:

A group of Queens tenants left homeless by a fire two weeks ago fear many of their belongings were looted or just tossed out like garbage. [NY Daily News]

Supporters of tenants’ rights are disappointed that an overhaul of tenancy laws did not result in the demise of agency letting fees. [Radio New Zealand]