Etymologically
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rental

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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.

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)