7

I am a bit confused about the meaning of these three words. Can someone explain to me the usage of these three words and their meaning? i.e. If I am renting a car to someone then who am I and who takes a car on rent?

I found in google search that people are using same meaning for renter and tenant.

Marv Mills
  • 11,249
rajesh
  • 173
  • 3
    Have you tried to look up a dictionary? –  Nov 03 '15 at 07:48
  • @Rathony i tried in google but i found different meanings for same words. I want to know exact meaning of these three words. – rajesh Nov 03 '15 at 07:49
  • 2
    Please inlcude what you found in the question so that this question won't be closed. –  Nov 03 '15 at 07:50
  • Tenant has been used in land law since at least the 12th century and relates to tenements held with any kind of title from a Lord. It is still the usual term for anyone renting property on a lease. I have never heard it used in connection with car rental. But in Britain we often talk of car hire (rather than rent), where I feel sure the terms hirer and hiree apply. – WS2 Nov 03 '15 at 09:08
  • 2
    Possible duplicate of Can "rentee" be used to refer to one who rents an item? – Hot Licks Nov 03 '15 at 12:18
  • 1
    Most of the responses here are apparently based on British usage. In the US, "tenant" is the one who pays rent and occupies the space, "renter" is the same (more or less) as "tenant", as is "lessee", and "landlord" (or "lessor") is the person to whom you pay the rent. "Rentee" is rarely seen, if at all. The choice of terminology is based to a degree on whether the property is under long-term lease or not. And there is no doubt some variation in the "preferred" term from one major city to another. – Hot Licks Nov 01 '16 at 11:26
  • 1
    @HotLicks Your comment appears to be primarily about renting a building or land. The example in the Q. is about renting a car. And which responses do you consider to be "based on British usage"? What difference is there between US & UK usage? Op's name could suggest Asian usage? – TrevorD Dec 31 '16 at 13:34
  • Consulting an ordinary dictionary will give one separate definitions of renter and tenant, from which one can conclude that they are very close in meaning, but such a dictionary will not explicitly compare them and bring out the differences between them. It is therefore quite reasonable to ask at this site what these differences are. – jsw29 Dec 17 '23 at 21:26

3 Answers3

8

Renter 1

  1. One that receives payment in exchange for the use of one's property by another.
  2. One that pays rent for the use of another's property; a tenant.

Tenant 2

  1. One that pays rent to use or occupy land, a building, or other property owned by another.
  2. A dweller in a place; an occupant.

Rentee already has an answer here: Can "rentee" be used to refer to one who rents an item?

Rentee doesn't apply unless what's being rented is a person, in which case the rentee is the person (slave) being rented.

The difference: a tenant or a rentee will never be the owner receiving payment for use. A renter might be.

The two different meanings of the word renter can usually be distinguished with the words to and from:

  • If I rent something to you, I get paid and you get to use it.
  • If I rent something from you, I get to use it and you get paid.
Community
  • 1
candied_orange
  • 10,006
  • While the everyday meaning of tenant is such that it is indeed true that 'a tenant . . . will never be the owner', there is a technical sense that tenant has in some legal contexts, in which tenants can be owners. Most people will never encounter such use of the term, though. – jsw29 Jan 24 '24 at 16:30
0

  • renter

    someone who have some building for rent, e.g. landlord

  • tenant

    someone who pays the rent for the place they live in(pays money to landlord)

  • rentee

    eh, I have no idea about this word :)

[Note: Both two words renter and tenant are most used for building, flat, etc.]

Community
  • 1
Hongten Jone
  • 11
  • 2
    The meaning you give for renter is possible, but unlikely. Until I read what you had written it never occurred to me (native English speaker) that that was a possible meaning of renter: I would always assume it meant the tenant unless the context strongly overturned that assumption. – Colin Fine Nov 03 '15 at 10:04
  • In the US "renter" is taken to mean the person who pays rent to occupy the space. "Landlord" is the person who owns the property and is paid the rent. – Hot Licks Nov 01 '16 at 11:20
  • Lawyers and most leases in the UK (not sure about Scotland) use the words 'leasor' and 'leasee' for the landlord and tenant respectively. Never come across 'renter' in leases. Have only encountered this word in car rental agreements. – Peter Point Dec 01 '16 at 12:50
0

A renter is a person who pays rent in order to use something that to belongs to someone else, whether it be a house, room or even a car. But a tenant can be a renter, free occupier or a caretaker of someone's property eg. House, Room etc.

ARAY OF PEACE5EEDZ Raymond L G
  • 3
Leonard
  • 9