tenement

A tenement (from the Latin tenere to hold), in law, is anything that is held, rather than owned. This usage is a holdover from feudalism, which still forms the basis of all real-estate law in the English-speaking world.

Under feudalism, land itself is never privately owned; instead, estates in land (feuds or fees) are held of some superior, upon some manner of service. The thing held is called a tenement, the holder is called a tenant, the manner of his holding it is called a tenure, and the superior is called the landlord, or lord of the fee.