rental

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɹɛntəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-Norman rental or Anglo-Latin and Medieval Latin rentale,^[2][3][4] from Old French rente, rent, and Latin -ale.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A rent roll, a list of rents due by tenants: 1362 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Income from rents is from about 1395.^[5][2] The amount paid or received as rent is from 1637–50 (the 1630s).^[5][2] In Scots law a rental was a kind of lease granted to a kindly tenant (1565–66), a sense now obsolete.^[5][6] The adjective is from the 1510s.^[2] The act of renting is from 1915,^[5] and a house or car let for rent, chiefly North American, from 1952.^[5][2]

Timeline

• 1362 – a rent roll.^[5]
• c. 1395 – income from rents.^[5]
• 1510s – the adjective.^[2]
• 1637–50 – the amount of rent.^[5]
• 1952 – a property for rent.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An amount paid or received as rent.
2. Property, such as a car or flat, available for renting.
3. The act of renting.
4. A list of tenants and the rents due; a rent roll.

Adjective

1. Of or available for rent: a rental car.

Related words

• rent
• render
• renter

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)