Tenet is defined as a principle held as being true, especially by an organization. Tenant is defined as (1) one that pays rent to occupy property; (2) a dweller in a place; or, (3) in law, one who holds or possesses lands, tenements, or property by any kind of title.
Examples
On the web, it’s easy to find 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]
. . . successful leaders, more often than not, share basic tenants and principles in performing their prescribed duties. [American Thinker]
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]
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]
