Tenancy \Ten"an*cy\, n.; pl. Tenacies. [Cf. OF. tenace, LL. tenentia. See Tenant.]

(Law)
   (a) A holding, or a mode of holding, an estate; tenure; the temporary possession of what belongs to another.
   (b) (O. Eng. Law) A house for habitation, or place to live in, held of another. --Blount. Blackstone. Wharton.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)