tenure
(ˈtɛnjʊə(r))
Forms: α. 5– tenure, (5 tenur, 7 tenuer); β. 6 tener, ten(n)or, 6–7 tenour.
[a. AF., OF. tenure (13th c. in Godef.):—earlier OF. teneüre (11–15th c.), in med.L. tenitūra, tenetūra (c 1200 in Du Cange), f. tenē-re to hold: see -ure. Med.L. had also (from OF.) teneura, tenura (11th c. in Du Cange). OF. had in same sense tenor, -our, teneur, app. by some confusion with tenor n., whence the β-forms in ME., etc.
A further result of this use of tenor in sense of tenure in OF. and ME. was that tenure was also used for tenor: see the latter.]
1. a. The action or fact of holding a tenement (esp. in Eng. Law): see tenement 1.
| α [1292 Britton i. xix. §7 En les queus dreitz nul ne se deit eyder par excepcioun de lounge tenure (tr. to aid himself by exception of long tenure).] 1442 Surtees Misc. (1888) 18 We..serched a tenement,..in þe tenur of John Wetelay. 1546 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 16, xv acres of arable lande..in tholdinge of Richard Carlell xv s. one tenemente in Northstanley in the tenure of John Hyrde v s. 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 31 Those inferior Kings are like in some proportion to those of Man, who haue had it alwayes by a tenure from their soueraigns, the Kings of England. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World iii. (1634) 113 Some land there was in the tenure of the Locrians. 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. 100 Is not the Law of the Land..the cause of..every mans right in the Tenure of his Estate? 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. ii. 34 We have not the mark system, but we have the principle of common tenure. 1878 Simpson Sch. Shaks. I. 53 Hooker wrote to Carew..that the Barony of Odrone was in the tenure of a sect called the Cavanaghs. |
| β c 1505 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 200 A certayne land in Rybstone, of long tyme in the tennor of one John Ampleforthe. 1589 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) II. 166 My glebe land in Learmouth, now in the tenor of Johne Moore, for xxj yeares. 1612–13 in N. Riding Rec. (1884) II. 11 A parcell of meadow called the Wraie in the tenour of Rich. Michell. 1658 Knaresb. Wills (Surtees) II. 237 A messuage with land..now in tenor of William Wilkenson. |
b. gen. and
fig. The action or fact of holding anything material or non-material; hold upon something; maintaining a hold; occupation.
| 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. iv, Lady, vouchsafe the tenure of this ensigne. 1638 Rouse Heav. Univ. (1702) Pref., A Christians tenure of religion is far more excellent and assured than that of the Pagan. 1738 Gentl. Mag. VIII. 411/1 They were more One than either Espousals, or a Joint-Tenure of the Throne, could make them. 1810 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) V. 497 Their existence in safety at Seville depends upon the tenure of the pass of Monasterio. 1844 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. App. ii. (1862) 414 Their salary cannot be altered duing their tenure of office. 1855 Brewster Newton II. xxvi. 378 Warned of his slight tenure of life. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 330 The tenure of the priesthood should always be for a year and no longer. |
c. spec. (
orig. U.S.) Guaranteed tenure of office, as a right granted to the holder of a position (
usu. in a university or school) after a probationary period and protecting him against dismissal under most circumstances.
| 1957 V. Nabokov Pnin vi. 139 Pnin, who had no life tenure at Waindell, would be forced to leave—unless some other literature-and-language Department agreed to adopt him. Ibid. 167 ‘Naturally, I am expecting that I will get tenure at last,’ said Pnin rather slyly. ‘I am now Assistant Professor nine years.’ 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 31 July 8/2 Idaho tried to abolish tenure a year ago, but the teachers' lobby was so strong the bill was defeated. 1981 Listener 5 Feb. 166/3 Can universities in a time of declining resources still preserve tenure in all its old form? |
2. a. The condition of service, etc., under which a tenement is held of the superior; the title by which the property is held; the relations, rights, and duties of the tenant to the landlord.
tenure at will:
cf. tenant at will.
| 1436 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 501/2 Y⊇ Five Portes and tenure of Gavelkynde. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. 12 All these tenauntes maye holde their landes by dyuers tenures, customes, and seruyces: as by homage, fealtie, escuage, socage..burgage tenures, and tenure in vyllenage. Ibid., Also it is to be enquered..who holdeth by charter and who nat, and who by the olde tenure. 1554 Act 1 & 2 Phil. & Mary, c. 8 §54 The Donor..maye reserve to him and his heires for ever a Tenure in Franck Almoigne. 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 132 As he that held Land by tenure to say a certaine number of Pater nosters for the soules of the Kings of England. 1607 Cowell s.v., Tenure is the manner, whereby tenements are houlden of their Lords. 1628 Coke On Litt. 85 b, Tenure in Socage, is where the Tenant holdeth of his Lord the tenancie by certaine seruice for all manner of seruices, so that the seruice be not Knights seruice. 1641 Capt. Mervin in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 214 The abortive Judgment of the Tenure in Capite, where no Tenure was exprest. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. Introd. iii. 73 A very extensive comment upon a little excellent treatise of tenures, compiled by judge Littleton in the reign of Edward the fourth. Ibid. xiii. 398 Those, who by their military tenures were bound to perform forty days service in the field. 1774 Pennant Tour Scot. in 1772, 45 The right of voting is vested by burgess tenure, in certain houses. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 7 The circumstance of annexing a condition of military service to a grant of lands does not imply that they are held by a feudal tenure. Ibid. 27 Where lands held by an allodial tenure were voluntarily converted into feuds. Ibid. 381 Enfranchisement, by which the tenure is changed from base to free. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India ii. xii. II. 549 Involving a complicated texture of rights and tenures, which almost defied unravelling. 1875 J. Curtis Hist. Eng. 396 The statute 12 Car. II, c. 24, which abolished the military tenures, converting them into freehold. 1892 Pall Mall G. 17 Mar. 7/1 The new and purely tenure-at-will system gradually gaining ground. 1908 Fenland N. & Q. Apr. 177 Keyhold Tenure at Crowland... That house was his because he built it, and because he held the key which admitted him to it and enabled him to keep other people out of it. |
| β ? 1510 Pynson (title) Leteltun teners newe correcte. 1535 (ed. 1562) Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 26 §2 After the english tenour without diuision or parcion. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. ii. (1821) 38, I hold my Lordships and Lands..by very ancient Tenour, which Service and Tenour none may dispence withall. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II, lxi, And some (who were in law more Conversant), Demand release of Tenors. |
b. transf. Terms of holding; title; authority; hold over a person or thing; control.
| 1871 Freeman Hist. Ess. Ser. i. vii. 184 Few Englishmen understand the difference between the English tenure of Bourdeaux and the English tenure of Calais. a 1879 in Drysdale Philemon Introd. 21 To understand the tenure of Philemon over Onesimus, we should keep in mind the stringency of Phrygian bondage. |
c. fig. (
Cf. 1 b.)
| 1659 Hammond On Ps. xxxiv. 8 Paraphr. 181 There is no such assured tenure in or title to all the felicity in the world. 1726 Swift Gulliver iii. iii, The office of a favourite hath a very uncertain tenure. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 42 Rendering their government feeble in its operations, and precarious in its tenure. 1840 Alison Hist. Europe (1847) XI. xlix. §7. 54 The mutable tenure of popular applause. 1863 W. Phillips Sp. iii. 53 Republics exist only on the tenure of being constantly agitated. |
| β 1682 H. More Annot. Glanvill's Lux O. 117 Whether Regeneration be not a stronger tenour for enduring Happiness. |
3. concr. A holding;
= tenement 2. Now
rare.
| 1439 Rolls of Parlt. V. 16/2 The saide Tennauntz dare nat abide in thaire Tenures and Places, ne no laboure there do. 1461 Ibid. 476/1 All Tenures within the same Lordship been Chartre land, and Free land. 1766 Entick London IV. 443 Greenwich-park..is still a royal tenure. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
tenure land,
tenure roll.
| 1859 Eyton Antiq. Shropshire IX. 39 The Tenure-Roll of 1285 brings up another Ralph de Clotley. 1891 Pall Mall G. 22 Sept. 7/2 Property, consisting of a mansion and several miles of tenure land (twenty-one villages)..in North Jutland. |
b. In sense 1 c above, as
tenure decision,
tenure member,
tenure system;
tenure-heavy adj.;
tenure track U.S., an employment structure whereby the holder of a post is guaranteed consideration for eventual tenure,
usu. within a stated number of years.
| 1978 Chron. Higher Educ. 2 Oct. 8/3 Some 1,000 complaints of unfair tenure decisions his organization handles each year. |
| 1979 Yale Alumni Mag. Apr. 13/1 Faculties are becoming increasingly tenure-heavy. |
| 1960 J. J. Corson Governance of Colleges & Universities v. 101 In some institutions only the tenure members of the faculty will be privileged to participate in the school faculty. |
| 1971 Nature 31 Dec. 502/2 The tenure system simply allows dead wood to remain in the university. |
| 1979 Ibid. 4 Oct. p. xix/1 (Advt.), Two-year appointment with the possibility of tenure track. 1981 Washington Post 2 Jan. b16/4 People get into the feeling that they are on a tenure track and that they are unshakeable. |
Hence
† ˈtenurage,
Obs., what belongs to a tenure or tenures; general conditions of tenure;
† ˈtenurer,
Obs. = tenant;
† ˈtenurist,
Obs., one who deals with or treats of tenures.
| 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey iii. ii. 68 Tenant in the first signification sometimes imports duety of *Tenurage: as Tenant by Knight-seruice, Socage, Tenant in Villenage, Burgage. Ibid. iv. Concl. 88 Inroll all the Feudataries & Suiters to the Court with their Fees, Tenurage, Rents, and Seruices. |
| 1660 Waterhouse Arms & Arm. 106 Nor could they be chargable with what should disable the *Tenurer to do his service. |
| 1588 Fraunce Lawiers Log. Ded. ¶ij, It cannot bee, sayde one great *Tenurist, that a good scholler should euer prooue good Lawyer. a 1628 J. Doddridge Eng. Lawyer (1631) 53 Defiled by the Feudary Tenurist writers of the middle age. |