The word 'tenement' entered English in the 14th century via Anglo-Norman French 'tenement', from the medieval Latin 'tenementum'. This Latin term originates from the verb 'tenēre', meaning 'to hold'. Its initial legal sense referred broadly to any property or piece of land held by a tenant, focusing on the condition of tenure. Over centuries, particularly in urban contexts like London and New York, the term narrowed to specify a large, often subdivided building held by multiple tenants. This semantic shift from a general legal concept of 'holding' to a specific, frequently overcrowded type of urban housing reflects the social history of property and class.

The word is a simplex loanword from Anglo-Norman French. Its core component 'tene-' is derived from the Latin verb 'tenēre' (to hold). The suffix '-ment' is from Latin '-mentum', a noun-forming suffix indicating the means or result of an action.