tenet

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ˈtɛnɪt/ UK /ˈtɛnɪt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a principle or belief held as part of a doctrine

Nonviolence is a central tenet of the movement.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a principle or belief held... principle doctrine belief creed precept dogma conviction

Word family

Related forms tenable tenacious retain tenant

Etymology

From Latin tenet ('he holds'), third-person singular present of tenere ('to hold'), referring to a belief 'held' as true.

tenet Latin tenere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas

External links

# tenet

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɛnɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtɛnɪt/

## Meanings
1. a principle or belief held as part of a doctrine

## Examples
- Nonviolence is a central tenet of the movement.

## Synonyms
- principle
- doctrine
- belief
- creed
- precept
- dogma
- conviction

## Related Forms
- tenable
- tenacious
- retain
- tenant

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tenet
- Root: tenere

## Etymology
From Latin tenet ('he holds'), third-person singular present of tenere ('to hold'), referring to a belief 'held' as true.

## AI Etymology
Tenet comes from Latin tenet ('he holds'), third-person singular present of tenere ('to hold'), referring to a belief 'held' as true. The historical chain includes Latin tenet and Latin tenere. The quoted older senses, "he holds", "to hold", and "held", supply the semantic anchors for tenet. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word tenet carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "a principle or belief held as part of a doctrine". Related English forms include tenable, tenacious, retain, and tenant. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas

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