adjective
- of, having, or eligible for tenure, especially in a college or university: There are three tenured professors in the history department.
- granting, allowing, or leading to tenure: None of the advertised jobs is a tenured position.
noun
- the holding or possessing of anything: the tenure of an office.
- the holding of property, especially real property, of a superior in return for services to be rendered.
- the period or term of holding something.
- status granted to an employee, usually after a probationary period, indicating that the position or employment is permanent.
verb (used with object)
- to give tenure to: After she served three years on probation, the committee tenured her.
adjective
- mainly US and Canadian
- having tenure of officea tenured professor
- guaranteeing tenure of officea tenured post
noun
- the possession or holding of an office or position
- the length of time an office, position, etc, lasts; term
- mainly US and Canadian the improved security status of a person after having been in the employ of the same company or institution for a specified period
- the right to permanent employment until retirement, esp for teachers, lecturers, etc
- property law
- the holding or occupying of property, esp realty, in return for services rendered, etc
- the duration of such holding or occupation
n.early 15c., “holding of a tenement,” from Anglo-French and Old French tenure “a tenure, estate in land” (13c.), from Old French tenir “to hold,” from Vulgar Latin *tenire, from Latin tenere “to hold” (see tenet). The sense of “condition or fact of holding a status, position, or occupation” is first attested 1590s. Meaning “guaranteed tenure of office” (usually at a university or school) is recorded from 1957.