| 释义 |
▪ I. rent, n.1|rɛnt|
Forms: 2–7 rente, (5–6 rentte, 5 rennt), 4– rent.
[a. OF. rente (12th c.), rende = Pr. renta, renda, Sp. renta, Pg. renda, It. rendita:—pop. L. *rendita (= class. L. reddita), fem. pa. pple. of *rendĕre: see render v. Hence also MDu., MLG., MHG. (also mod.Du., etc.) rente, Sw. ränta.]
†1.
a. (In pl.) A source or item of revenue or income; a separate piece of landed or other property yielding a certain return to the owner. Obs.
c1154O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137 Martin abbot..wrohte on þe circe, & sette þar to landes & rentes. c1200Vices & Virtues 77 Ða riche menn ðe laneð here eihte uppe chierches and uppe ða chirch-landes,..oðe uppe oðre þinges þe rentes ȝiueð. a1225Ancr. R. 168 Purses, baggen, & packes, beoð alle eorðliche weolen, & worldliche renten. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 323 Odo wastede and destroyede the kynges rentes and enchetes. c1410Sir Cleges 94 Whan he thowght..howe he hade his maners sold And his renttes wyde. 1481Caxton Myrr. i. v, Their Rentes, their tresours or other thinge wherin they delyte them. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccclxxix. 635 This Philip..was abydynge in his mothers house, and lyued honestely on theyr rentes. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iv. i. 260 What are thy Rents? what are thy Commings in? 1611Coryat Crudities 459 A goodly Bishoprick..which he endowed with most ample rents and reuenewes.
†b. Revenue, income. Obs.
a1225Juliana 4 An heh mon of cunne ant eke riche of rente. a1300Cursor M. 27248 [Of] ani wrangwis merchandise, Or o wasting of his rent. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 60 Þe kyng..granted þam pes to haue, & gaf him ageyn boþe rent & lond. c1386Chaucer Monk's T. 221 God to thy fader sente Glorie and honour, regne, tresour, rente. 1483Caxton Cato G iv, Thou oughtest..to holde thyn estate after thy rente and reuenue. 1550Crowley Last Trumpet 300 Thou..sekest euer for to fynde wayes to encrease thine yerely rent. 1635E. Pagitt Christianogr. iii. (1636) 43 These Novell Devices brought in a new Rent and great profit to the Clergy. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 166 Palm-Trees, which yield some rent to the Monks. 1708Swift Abolit. Chr. Wks. 1755 II. i. 86 To allow each of them such a rent, as..would make them easy. 1783Burke Sp. Fox's E. Ind. Bill Wks. 1815 IV. 86 Territories yielding a rent of one hundred and forty thousand pounds a year.
fig.1500–20Dunbar Poems lxxiv. 39 Rewthe, the frute of nobilnes, Off womanheid the tresour, and the rent.
†c. Profit, value. Obs. rare.
c1305Land Cokayne 86 Þer beþ iiij willis in þe abbei..Euer ernend to riȝt rent. 1513Douglas æneis i. Prol. 82 Set this my werk full feble be of rent.
†d. Recompense, reward; a privilege accorded to a person. Obs. rare.
a1300K. Horn 984 Wanne hit is wente, Sire king, ȝef me mi rente. a1300Cursor M. 19593 It fell saint petre als for rent, To call men vnto amendment. 1448–9J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes D v (MS.), More Ioy sche had Than Orphe, qwan he hys wyf receyud ayen for y⊇ rent Off his musycal melody.
†2.
a. A tribute, tax, or similar charge, levied by or paid to a person. to hold one's rent, to succeed in paying a tribute. Obs.
c1290Beket 390 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 117 He axede at þe laste Eche ȝere ane certayne rente þoruȝ al engelond wel faste. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5778 Þre ȝer he huld is rente ac þe verþe was bihinde. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 87 Þe Cherche, þat sellen men leve to synne, and ȝiven hem leve to last þerinne for an anuel rente bi ȝere. c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 1044 Deeth, that taketh of heigh and logh his rente. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 185 Yf thou wilt..suffre me go frely fro prisoun, Without raunsoun or ony other rent. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 550 Aganis this erle all Holland did rebell And of thair rentis wald no ansuer mak. 1659Heylin Examen Hist. ii. 182 That every Minister..may sue for the Recovery of his Tythes, Rents and other duties. a1703Burkitt On N.T. Mark vi. 13 Rather than pay the constant rent of daily relief to their poor parents.
fig.13..Coer de L. 4028 Kyng Richard hys ax in hond he hente, And payde Sarezynys her rente.
b. The return or payment made by a tenant to the owner or landlord, at certain specified or customary times, for the use of lands or houses; † rent of assise (see assize n. 2 b, and Blackstone Comm. (1766) II. 42). Also, in mod. use, the sum paid for the hire of machinery, etc., for a certain time. fair rent, the amount of rent which a tenant may reasonably be expected to pay for the use of specified land or property; spec. that officially registered by a Rent Office for a particular tenancy.
a1300Cursor M. 28438 Toll and tak, and rent o syse, withalden i haue wit couettise. a1440Sir Degrev. 139 Hys husbondus that yaf rent Was y-heryȝed dounryght. 1480Waterf. Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 316 The rennt of the nexte terme..shall be arrestid in the tennants hands. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 60 Some of them pay more rent yerely than theyr Fermes be worth. 1607Norden Surv. Dial. ii. 49, I be Lord of many Mannors, and no doubt I receiue rentes of euery of these kindes. 1653Brome City Wit ii. ii, A poor Doctor of Physick..has paid a quarters rent of his house afore-hand. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 391 They commonly allow a Farm to make three Rents, one for the Landlord, one for Charges, and one for the Tenant to live on. 1711Lond. Gaz. No. 4902/4 The Ground Lease expires at Christmas... Rent reserv'd 4l. 16s. per Annum. 1736J. Murray Lett. (1901) 24, I have got a good convenient house on rent. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. 43 Strictly the rent is demandable and payable before the time of sunset of the day whereon it is reserved. 1820Gifford Compl. Eng. Lawyer 411 Where the rent is a large sum, the tenant should have it in readiness before sunset. 1865Baring-Gould Werewolves xiv. 239 Each tenant pays no rent for his cottage and patch of field, but is bound to work a fixed number of days for his landlord. 1886Act 49 & 50 Vict. c. 29 §6 The landlord or the crofter may apply to the Crofters Commission to fix the fair rent to be paid by such crofter to the landlord for the holding. 1891Spectator 18 July 100/2 They include the ‘rent’ of the engine and trucks, the cost of fuel, and the pay of engine-driver. 1926Act 16 & 17 Geo. V. c. 52 §2 The expression ‘full fair rent’ in relation to a small holding means the rent which a tenant might reasonably be expected to pay for the holding if let as such and the landlord undertook to bear the cost of structural repairs. 1965Act 13 & 14 Eliz. II. c. 75 §27 In determining..what rent is or would be a fair rent under a regulated tenancy of a dwelling-house regard shall be had,..to the age, character and locality of the dwelling-house and to its state of repair. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 263, I had to deal with all the questions about rateable value and with the fair-rent clauses. 1976Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 13 Nov. 6/5 The rent officer in determining fair rents can consider under his brief the property and then fix his figure with reference to similar properties.
†c. A piece of property for which rent is received, charged or paid; esp. pl. a number of tenements or houses let out to others (and freq. named after the proprietor). Obs. exc. U.S. dial.
1466Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 341 It was agreid..that my said mastyr schal paye hym for the rente that he rentythe to hym for Georges, wyche drawyth be yere iiij. marc. 1491–2Rec. St. Mary at Hill 175 Reparacyons of the new howse in the cherche Rentes. 1517–8Ibid. 299 Ress' of Thomas Clayton for that Remayned in his hondes of the byldyng of Nasynges Renttes next baattes howse xjs. iijd. 1550Crowley Way to Wealth A iij b, Whole allyes, whole rentes, whole rowes, yea whole streats. 1732Acc. Workhouses 21 Another workhouse..belonging to the liberty of Hatton-Garden, Saffron-hill, and Ely-Rents. c1847J. S. Coyne in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1973) IV. 186 You used not to wear such waistcoats as that when you lived in Fuller's Rents. a1902S. Butler Way of All Flesh (1903) lv. 254 A rag and bottle merchant in Birdsey's Rents. 1926Dialect Notes IV. 388 Rent,..apartment or rentable house. 1943[see rent-hunter in sense 4 b below].
transf.a1631Donne Elegies xii. 62 Which haue devided heaven in tenements, and with..theeves, and murtherers stuft his rents soe full.
d. Pol. Econ. (See quot. 1817.)
[1777J. Anderson Enquiry Nature Corn-Laws 45 It is not, however, the rent of the land that determines the price of its produce, but it is the price of that produce which determines the rent of the land.] 1815T. R. Malthus Inquiry Nature & Progress Rent 1 The rent of land may be defined to be that portion of the value of the whole produce which remains to the owner of the land, after all the out⁓goings belonging to its cultivation..have been paid, including the profits of the capital employed, estimated according to the usual and ordinary rate of the profits of agricultural stock at the time being. 1817D. Ricardo Princ. Pol. Econ. ii. 49 Rent is that portion of the produce of the earth, which is paid to the landlord for the use of the original and indestructible powers of the soil. 1848Mill Pol. Econ. I. ii. xvi. 500 The rent, therefore, which any land will yield, is the excess of its produce, beyond what would be returned to the same capital if employed on the worst land in cultivation. 1884J. Rae Contemp. Socialism ix. 455 No part of Ricardo's theory is more elementary or more unchallenged than this, that the rent of land constitutes no part of the price of bread, and the high rent is not the cause of dear bread, but dear bread the cause of high rent.
e. Money or cash, esp. that acquired by criminal activity or in exchange for homosexual favours; hence ellipt. (as quasi-adj.), = rent boy in sense 4 c below.
1828W. T. Moncrieff Tom & Jerry i. 20 Blunt, my dear boy, is..to be able to flash the screens—sport the rhino—shew the needful—post the pony—nap the rent... Money, money, is your universal good. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 242 Rent, money: cash. 1936J. Curtis Gilt Kid xii. 127, I haven't done anything since I've come out of the nick and the old rent's running a bit low. 1967A. Wilson No Laughing Matter iii. 306 I've been rent myself once... I just gave what they paid me for. 1977Gay News 24 Mar. 15/3 A word of warning about the Strand Bar in Hope Street... It's rough and some of the people there are rent.
f. Econ. The financial advantage or gain regarded as emanating from a particular skill or ability, spec. in phr. rent of ability (see quot. 1929).
1879A. Marshall Econ. Industry ii. xii. 144 Rent of rare natural abilities is a specially important element in the incomes of business men. 1905G. B. Shaw Irrational Knot p. xv, There is an important economic factor, first analyzed by an American economist (General Walker), and called rent of ability. 1929S. E. Thomas Elem. Econ. (ed. 4) xvii. 261 We may say that there is a rent element in both profits and wages, and that this element depends on the natural or acquired gifts of the employer or worker concerned. Where the differential payment is due to differences of ability, it may be suitably and correctly described as a rent of ability. 1930Times 6 May 12/2 The Fabian Society formerly pleaded for the rent of ability, but the plea fell on deaf ears.
†3.
a. Sc. on rent, at interest. Obs. rare.
a1611Burgh Rec. Stirling (1888) I. 126 The soume of ane hundrethe merkis..to be imployed be the toun on rent to the help of the ministrie of this burghe. 1612Ibid. 129 The said soume of five hundrethe merkis salbe imployit on yeirlie rent..for the help and supporte of the ministrie.
†b. In France: A sum paid by way of interest upon a public debt. Obs.
1689Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 605 He [the King] hath published an edict for a new creation of rents upon the town house of Paris. 1759Hist. War in Ann. Reg. 55 note, The French court have stopped payment of the following public debts, viz. 1. The three kinds of rents created on the posts.
4. attrib. and Comb.
a. Appositive, as rent-beeves, rent-capon, rent-corn, rent-eggs, rent-geese, rent-hens, rent-oysters, rent-penny, rent-salt.
1612Davies Why Ireland, etc. 17 Such charges as were made vppon ONeale, for *Rent-Beeues.
1634W. Cartwright Ordinary viii, To screw your wretched tenants up To th' uttermost farthing, and then stand upon The third *rent-capon.
1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 20 *Rent corne to be paid, for a reasnable rent.
1366Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 45, De cxl *Rent Egges.
1340Ibid. 37 In xl aucis, quarum xiv *Rente ges, vs. vd.
1345Ibid. 41, In cvxx x gallinis, præter l *Renthennes, xxiiijs. jd. ob. 1611Cotgr., Ostize, a rent henne, &c., paid, or deliuered, in lieu of a dwelling house.
1651Maldon, Essex, Borough Deeds Bundle 81 no. 1v (MS.) For fetching of two bushells of *rent oisters from Tollesbury.
a1696P. Henry in M. Henry Life x. M. H.'s Wks. 1853 II. 737/1 Praise is our *rent-penny, which we pay to our great Landlord.
1399–1400Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 602 Pro cariacione de *rent-salt, xviijd.
b. Objective genitive, as rent-collector, rent-enhancer, rent-holder, rent-hunter (in sense 2 c), rent-master, rent-owner, rent-raiser, rent-raising, rent-raker, rent-receiver, rent-rearer, rent-warner, rent-yielding.
1875W. S. Hayward Love agst. World 9 My agent, who employs the same *rent collector as he does.
1615R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 214 Now (*rent-inhauncer) where away so fast?
1657Trapp Comm. Job xxxi. 39 [I have caused] the poor *Rent-holders..to misse of a subsistence.
1943Boston Herald 28 July 12/1 A recent..cartoon showed two weary *rent-hunters walking past the White House.
c1610Sir J. Melvil Mem. (1735) 373 The *Rent-Masters and their Officers..must be responsible Men.
1844Mill Ess. Pol. Econ. iii. 89 All which is produced beyond this, whether it be in the hands..of any of the numerous varieties of *rent-owners, may be taken for immediate enjoyment.
1549Latimer 1st Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 38 You landelordes, you *rent-reisers,..you haue for your possessions yerely to much.
1556Robinson More's Utop. (Arb.) 38 marg., Landlordes by the wai checked for *Rent-raisyng.
1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. ix. (1623) 616 The Legate himselfe, whom they tearmed an Vsurer, Symonist, *Rent-raker, Money-thirster.
1549Latimer 1st Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 40 Then these grasiers, inclosers, and *rente rearers, are hinderers of the kings honour.
1943in E. Blunden Return to Husbandry 12 The squire has become an absentee landlord, a mere *rent-receiver.
1883Standard 28 May 4 A ‘*rent warner’, in the service of Lord Kenmare.
1848Mill Pol. Econ. I. iii. v. 565 Selling at a scarcity value..never is, nor has been, nor can be, a permanent condition of any of the great *rent-yielding commodities.
c. Miscellaneous, as rent allowance, rent-arrear(s), rent assessment, rent book, rent contract, rent control, (hence rent-controlled adj.), rent-day, rent-dinner, rent man, rent office, rent officer, rent rebate, rent restriction, rent-scot, rent-suit, rent tribunal; rent boy slang, a young male homosexual prostitute; rent car U.S., a hire-car; rent party U.S. = house-rent party s.v. house n.1 24; rent strike, a refusal to pay rent, usu. by a number of people as a form of protest; rent table (see quot. 1952). See also rent-charge, -roll, etc.
1947Rep. Assistance Board 1946 iv. 21 The Statutory Regulations provide for the addition of a ‘*rent allowance’ according to the circumstances of each individual case. 1974Coote & Gill Women's Rights vii. 259 The council gives rent rebates to council tenants and rent allowances to other tenants.
1669Ormonde MSS. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 89 Recovery of *rent-arrears due on lands in the county of Dublin.
1965Act 13 & 14 Eliz. II. c. 75 §25 There shall be constituted *rent assessment committees in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 2 to this Act. 1970Internat. & Compar. Law Quarterly 4th Ser. XIX. ii. 208 Generally, the working of the rent assessment committees was commended.
1830M. Edgeworth Let. 4 Nov. (1971) 427 The rent to us is to be from his commencement the raised rent. See *Rent book. 1973Courier & Advertiser (Dundee) 1 Mar. 6/4, I haven't seen my rent book for three years. 1978Lancashire Life Apr. 67/1 He inspected Aunt Clara's rent-book and asked her for the names of her grocer and butcher.
1969*Rent-boy [see kept ppl. a. 1 a]. 1975Daily Tel. 24 July 3/6 Many of the boys became male prostitutes... They became known as ‘rent boys’. 1976Deakin & Willis Johnny go Home iii. 56 Between the ages of fifteen and twenty he had been a rent boy, a boy prostitute living and working in the West End.
1932W. Faulkner Light in August xv. 338 They went straight to the garage where Salmon keeps his *rent car. 1970Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 6 Dec. 7/1 Ben quickly turned his machine into a ‘rent’ car. ‘They call them taxis now,’ he explained.
1906Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 118/1 Evidences of the long-continued disturbance of *rent-contracts in Ireland. 1940W. Faulkner Hamlet i. i. 14 But then I hear tell he always makes his rent contracts later than most.
1931Rep. Inter-Departmental Committee Rent Restrictions Acts (Min. Health) xiv. 46 Some of us, if we had had the task of devising the original system of *rent control..would perhaps have proposed the setting up of rent courts. 1965Listener 20 May 727/1 Local authority subsidies, rent control of private rented houses. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 48, I am engaged on rent controls already.
1946Mrs. Belloc Lowndes Let. 9 Jan. (1971) 270 Luckily Susan's flat is *rent controlled. 1971B. Malamud Tenants 6 The building was rent-controlled, and from the District Rent Office..Harry had learned he was a statutory tenant. 1978I. B. Singer Shosha viii. 152 He had a rent-controlled apartment for which he paid no more than thirty zlotys a month.
1616T. Adams Divine Herbal 26 If his *rent-day make euen with his Silkeman, Mercer, Taylor, he is well. 1869Mackay Grace & Truth (1875) 62 Shortly before the rent-day a neighbour comes in.
1837Thackeray Ravenswing vii, They would invite all farmers to a *rent-dinner.
1943L. Hughes in Poetry Sept. 312 The *rent man knocked. 1969Punch 1 Jan. 15/1, I do worry about the effect which its long illness is having on its general standing with the butcher, the baker, and the rentman.
1977Coote & Gill Women's Rights vii. 257 Check the rent register at your local *Rent Office.
1965New Statesman 9 Apr. 561/3 Widely publicised rent scales would..make it easier for *rent officers. 1973E. Berckman Victorian Album 176 Before we ever took this lease, I went to the Rent Officer. 1976Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 13 Nov. 6/5 The rent officer in determining fair rents can consider under his brief the property and then fix his figure with reference to similar properties.
1926C. Van Vechten Nigger Heaven ix. 150 There were..the modest *rent-parties. 1956[see house-party s.v. house n.1 24]. 1968P. Oliver Screening Blues vi. 203 One of the most frequently heard songs in the rent-party repertoire was The Boy in the Boat.
1936G. Wilson Rent Rebates 10 There is a not inconsiderable body of opinion which has already expressed itself in favour of the adoption of *rent rebate schemes. 1971Reader's Digest Family Guide Law 132/2 To apply for a rent rebate, a tenant must give details of his own income. 1977R.A.F. News 11–24 May 4/6 Some 4,036 soldiers and 59 leading aircraftsmen were on rent rebate.
1921A. W. Boon Rent Restriction Act, 1920 5 The *Rent Restriction Act is very intricate and much involved. 1940Economist 5 Oct. 422/2 Profiteers have been threatened with the Rent Restriction Acts. 1952A. Christie Mrs. McGinty's Dead ii. 17 Under the Rent Restriction Act the landlord couldn't get the old woman out. 1976Evening Post (Nottingham) 17 Dec. 32/8 Rent increases amounting to {pstlg}2,025..were not included because of the failure to act on the partial lifting of rent restrictions in November, 1973.
1631in Bingham's Reports V. 341 A grant..of..all rents, revenues, and services, rents-charge, *rents-scot &c...arising in or within the lordships.
1970N.Y. Times 5 Feb. 38/6 The student organization also is lending moral and organizational support to..a widespread local *rent strike. 1973Freedom 26 May 1/2 Let the Trade Union movement now show its regard for the value of education by giving..support to student rent-strikes. 1977Transatlantic Rev. lx. 120 In English class he'd go off on a crusade for Food Co-ops and Rent Strikes.
188319th Cent. Sept. 439 As regards the procedure in *rent-suits, no material change is made by the Bill.
1927Macquoid & Edwards Dict. Eng. Furnit. III. 241 A..type, known as a ‘*Rent-Table’, was introduced about this time [sc. 1750]. 1952J. Gloag Short Dict. Furnit. 387 Rent Table, a type of office table made during the second half of the 18th century, with a round or octagonal top, with drawers immediately below. 1961‘J. Welcome’ Beware of Midnight i. 9 The furniture, too, was solid and respectable. There was an octagonal rent table. 1973V. Canning Finger of Saturn i. 4 He..set his briefcase on the round rent table.
1945Daily Herald 20 Apr. 4/3 Unanimous proposals of the Committee are: The establishment of 198 *rent tribunals for England and Wales. 1973E. Berckman Victorian Album 28 It means spending half your life before the Rent Tribunal. 1974Coote & Gill Women's Rights vii. 256 You may be able to recover the extra amount by going to the Rent Tribunal.
▪ II. rent, n.2|rɛnt|
[f. rent v.2 Cf. rend n.]
1. The result of rending or tearing apart; a separation of parts produced by tearing or similar violence; esp. a large tear in a garment or piece of woven stuff.
1535Coverdale Matt. ix. 16 Then taketh he awaye the pece agayne from the garment, & the rent ys made greater. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 179 See what a rent the enuious Casca made. 1623Gouge Serm. Extent God's Provid. §15 The maine Summier..failed..more shiveringly and with a longer rent in the timber. 1728Young Love Fame ii. 98 By night she went, And, while he slept, surpris'd the darling rent. 1798Jane Austen Northang. Abb. (1833) II. xiv. 199 Only think..of my having got that frightful great rent in my best Mechlin so charmingly mended. 1846A. Young Naut. Dict., Rents.., openings or cracks which take place in timber or planks when much exposed to the heat of the sun. 1858G. Macdonald Phantastes II. xviii. 73 A dark curtain of cloud was lifted up, and a pale blue rent shone between its foot and the edge of the sea.
fig.1535Coverdale 2 Sam. vi. 8 Then was Dauid sory, because the Lorde had made soch a rente vpon Vsa, and he called the same place Perez Vsa vnto this daye. 1878J. Miller Songs Italy 64 A gust that made rents Thro' the yellow-sailed fishers.
b. With punning allusion to rent n.1
1616Withals Dict. (1634) 166/1 Pannosus.., wee say in English ‘that hath his rent come in’. 1738Swift Pol. Conversat. 56, I have torn my Petticoat with your odious Romping; my Rents are coming in.
2. A breach, split, schism, or dissension in a society or party, or between persons. rare.
1608Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. iii. Schism 14 The rent of th' Hebrew Tribes from th' Ishean's Regiment. 1679Penn Addr. Prot. i. 11 It occasions great Unkindnesses, Rents, Confusions and Divisions in Families. 1719Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 456 Lest our miserable rents be heightened, and unruly passions be provoked.
3. A cleft or fissure in the surface of the earth; a deep narrow gorge or valley; also, a narrow breach in a wall, etc.
1705Addison Italy 283, I believe every one who sees this vast Rent in so high a Rock..must be satisfy'd that it was the Effect of an Earthquake. Ibid. 469 From Lyons there is another great Rent, which runs across the whole Country. 1807Wordsw. White Doe i. 256 Oft does the White Doe loiter there, Prying into the darksome rent. 1879S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Pal. xxiv. 491 We..could easily have passed through the rents in the walls.
b. Coal-mining. A plane of cleavage running across a seam; a back.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining.
4. The act of tearing or rending; the fact of being rent.
1836Macgillivray tr. Humboldt's Trav. v. 72 The Gulf of Cariaco owed its existence to a rent of the Continent. 1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 536 [He] read; and tore [the letter] As if the living passion symbol'd there Were living nerves to feel the rent.
▪ III. rent, v.1|rɛnt|
[ad. OF. renter, f. rente; or directly f. rent n.1]
†1. trans. To provide with revenues; to endow.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 35 Treuþe..bad hem..Rule religion and rente [v.r. renten] hem betere. c1475Partenay 5300 That place [he] augmented passingly..And rentid gretly to the house encresse. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 208 He founded, rented, & releued many & dyuers chyrches.
2. a. To pay rent for (land, houses, etc.); to take, hold, occupy or use, by payment of rent. Also absol.
1530Palsgr. 686/1, I rente, I paye farme hyre. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. i. 254 If this law hold in Vienna ten yeare, ile rent the fairest house in it, after three pence a Bay. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. i. 196 Such beggers as are so disposed, may rent certaine children. 1671W. Berkeley in E. D. Neill Virginia Carolorum (1886) viii. 335 In Virginia about forty thousand persons..have come to settle and rent. 1716Addison Drummer i. i, I'll e'en marry Nell, and rent a bit of Ground of my own. 1763Jefferson Corr. Wks. 1859 I. 188, I do not know that I shall have occasion to return, if I can rent rooms in town to lodge in. 1885Law Rep. 15 Q.B. Div. 316 The truck in question was rented by the defendant..from the Midland Waggon Co. 1911M. W. Ovington Half Man 44 Not only were they unable to rent in neighbourhoods suitable for respectable men and women. 1979N.Y. Rev. Bks. 17 May 6/2 New Yorkers rent. They don't buy.
b. To obtain money from (someone) by criminal means or in exchange for homosexual favours. slang.
1898O. Wilde Let. 11 May (1962) 738 Bosie..is devoted to a dreadful little ruffian aged fourteen... Every time he goes home with Bosie he tries to rent him. 1956C. Mackenzie Thin Ice xiii. 172 ‘I reckon you thought I was trying to rent Mr. Fortescue, eh?’ ‘To do what?’ I asked in astonishment at such an expression. ‘Get money out of him.’
3. To let (out) for rent or payment; to hire out. Also transf. or fig.
1546Yorks. Chantry Surv. (Surtees) II. 323 In the same deanes handes, the Shepgate ther, not rented. 1564in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 307 Sydelyng shalbe taken into the most profytt of this Cytye, and to be rentyd and letten also. 1613J. Fletcher Christ's Bloody Sweat 12 [Soldiers] For prey and spoyle aduenturing to rent Their liues and soules. 1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 374 Our Community..rents out those Places which otherwise would be useless. 1737Swift Let. to J. Barber 30 Mar., I confess there is no reason why an honourable Society should rent their estate for a trifle. 1817Paulding Lett. from South II. 64 Our guide..was ‘rented’ out to the King of England, by the legitimate Prince of Hesse Castle. 1895Outing (U.S.) XXVII. 210/1 A few residents, who eke out a meagre existence by renting boats to the occasional sportsman.
†4.
a. To pay (a sum) as tribute. Obs. rare—1.
1613Purchas Pilgrimage vi. xi. 524 Muley Hamet..conquered Tombuto and Gago:..Laurence Madoc..saith that Tombuto rented threescore quintals of Golde.
†b. To produce or bring in as rent. Obs. rare—1.
1774Ann. Reg. 150 The estate of Broughton which rents above 700l. per annum was..sold for 14,000l.
5. intr. To let at a certain rent. Also const. for. Now chiefly N. Amer.
1784G. Washington Diary 15 Sept. (1925) II. 292 The Plantation on which Mr. Simpson lives rented well—viz. for 500 Bushels of Wheat. 1805New-England Palladium (Boston) 26 July 3/3 Two convenient Tenaments, for small families, that will rent at 12 pr. cent of what they will be sold for. 1815Simond Tour Gt. Brit. I. 313 Arable land rents at {pstlg}3 and {pstlg}4, or even {pstlg}6 an acre. 1828P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 66 The market-dues for this traffic renting, the present year, at 840l. 1947Chicago Daily News 25 Feb. 1/4 (caption) 4-room apartment to rent for $120. 1974Whig-Standard (Kingston, Ontario) 11 Jan. 7/2 The smallest ‘bedsitter’ apartment in central London rents for about $25 per week.
6. trans. To charge (a person) with rent; to impose a certain rent on (one).
1881Times 13 Apr. 11/2 Any tenant, however lightly rented, will..have the strongest inducement to bring his landlord before the Court and to get the rent judicially fixed. 1894Daily News 24 Apr. 6/5 It might deprive them of the power..to rent a man upon his own improvements.
7. a. Used (with reference to sense 2) in the form rent-a- prefixing a noun (usu. with hyphens) to designate the rental of the thing specified, orig. and chiefly a motor vehicle.
Rentacar forms part of a proprietary term in the U.S.
1921Chicago Central Business & Office Building Directory 531/1 Rent-a-Ford (Inc.) 1450 S. Michigan av. 1924Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 19 Feb. 503/1 The Rentacar Company, Toledo, Ohio..Rentacar U-Drive..Automobiles. Claims use since Aug. 6, 1921. 1935Arch. Dermatol. & Syphilol. XXXII. 78 A man..who owned a ‘rent-a-car’ business. 1963Fortune Sept. 78 (Advt.), Avis is only No. 2 in rent a cars. So we have to try harder. 1966J. Gardner Amber Nine xi. 161 Martin..was at the wheel of the Rent-a-Car Merc. 1969‘G. Black’ Cold Jungle ix. 137 The rentacar Zephyr was still waiting on grass. 1971E. Afr. Standard (Nairobi) 13 Apr. 13/6 Rent-a-train and unit-train operations across North America would siphon more than 4 million tons of cargo from the Seaway. 1972‘G. Black’ Bitter Tea (1973) ii. 26 The key to my rentacar was in one of my damp pockets. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 21 Aug. 7/1 Rent-a-horse service is available from a riding school next door. 1977Rolling Stone 19 May 11/2 His is a typical L.A. rent-a-home.
b. In various extended and fanciful uses, as rent-a-crowd, rent-a-mob, etc., to denote the spontaneous acquisition or instant availability (usu. for some transitory purpose) of the thing specified. Also transf. in concr. senses.
1961Daily Tel. 21 Dec. 8/6 Dictators!!! When you liberate a territory or mop up a colonialist enclave, are you disappointed and upset to receive only a tepid welcome from the people? Let rentacrowd help you! We can supply cheering crowds for all occasions. 1964C. Driver Disarmers x. 233 The phenomenon which Peter Simple of the Daily Telegraph cruelly christened ‘Rentacrowd’: London's instantly available progressive claque ready..to demonstrate on a whole range of causes. 1968Guardian 22 Aug. 8/6 Ali..is the only man in Britain at the moment who can summon up a sizable Rentacrowd fast. 1970Peace News 5 Sept. 7/1 One of the chief rentacops was reportedly bitten in the genitals by one of his own dogs. 1970Guardian 27 Oct. 11/5 The strategy was based upon a tactic which Oxford students called Rentamob..a hard core of rioters who could turn a demonstration into a confrontation. 1972M. Jones Life on Dole i. 11 In Merthyr Tydfil it was the day for the demonstration against unemployment... There are no professional marchers—no Rentacrowd—here. 1976Times 27 Jan. 4/1 Squatters in London are reported to be using children in a ‘rent-a-kid’ system, as a means of being rehoused. 1977New Society 7 July 15/1 Trouble was caused not by ordinary workers, still less by management, but by Rent-a-picket... ‘There's always the Rent-a-crowd element that hangs on to strikes.’ 1979Daily Tel. 17 Nov. 2/1 Sir John denied that the trade union movement was contaminated by the ‘rent-a-mob’ philosophy.
▪ IV. rent, v.2 Obs. exc. dial.|rɛnt|
Also 5–6 rente, (5 rentte).
[var. of rend v., after the pa. tense and pa. pple. rent.]
1. trans. To rend, tear, pull asunder or in pieces.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 843 Thisbe, Now what lyoun that be in this forest Myn body mote he renten. c1440York Myst. xxx. 36 All to ragges schall ye rente hym and ryue hym. c1475Babees Bk. 81 Nor thurhe clowyng your flesshe loke yee nat Rent. 1490Caxton Eneydos xxi. 76, I haue not rented, vyolated ne broken, the pyramyde of his faders sepulture. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV 191 Rentyng his cote of armes and breakyng his Sword ouer his hed. 1582Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 59 Hudge beams hee brusteth, strong bars fast ioyncted he renteth. c1610Sir J. Melvil Mem. (1735) 92 Then she did rent her angry letter. 1633Prynne Histriom. 4 They would..even stone or rent him all to pieces. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 332/1 A Katherine Wheel..is a kinde of Wheel used to rent and tear in peeces grand Malefactors. 1727Swift Market-hill Thorn xvi, Thy confed'rate Dame Shall rent her Petticoats to Rags, And wound her Legs with every Bri'r. 1898in Eng. Dial. Dict.
absol.1560Bible (Genev.) Eccl. iii. 7 A time to rent, & a time to sowe.
refl.1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 126 In his madnesse (as some report) renting himself with his teeth. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage viii. iii. (1614) 746 To behold such monstrous Icie Ilands, renting themselues with terrour of their owne massines.
b. To tear (one's face, hair, clothes, etc.) in grief or rage. Cf. rend v. 3 b.
a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 324 For to rent in manye place Hir clothis,..As she that was fulfilled of ire. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 70 As a wood womman she ferd Renttyng hir clothis. 1535Coverdale 2 Sam. iii. 31 Rente youre clothes, and gyrde sack cloth aboute you, and make lamentacion for Abner. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 829 For, finding them by some fell Serpent slain, She rents her brest. 1657Trapp Comm. Ezra x. 1 Of this we read not..but of other effects of his passion, as renting his garments. c1678Roxb. Ball. (1891) VII. 430 My Golden hair I rent and tear like one outragious mad.
c. To rend or tear, in various fig. senses.
c1440Gesta Rom. ii. xvii. 330 (Add. MS.), Lustes of the flessh, that in no maner renten the soule. 1535Coverdale Joel ii. 12 Rente your hertes, & not youre clothes. 1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 27 b, Those who..whet their tongues to rent a sunder..the good name of others. c1586C'tess Sidney Ps. xlvi. iii, The voide of aire his voice doth rent. c1614Sir W. Mure Dido & æneas ii. 546 In diverse partes his dowbtsome minde he rents. 1681S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 38 Romish craft and policy, Which rents the Dutch and us asunder. 1747S. Fielding Lett. David Simple II. 181 A Person, whose every Word and Look can..rent the Heart asunder.
2. To tear out of, from, or off. Also refl.
1535Coverdale Lev. xiii. 56 Then shall he rente it out of the clothe. 1539Bible (Great) 1 Kings xi. 11, I wyll rent the kyngdome from the. 1627Hakewill Apol. (1630) 169 Wherein nature being but greene and growing, we rent from her, and replant her branches. 1643J. Burroughes Exp. Hosea i. (1652) 6 These ten Tribes renting themselves from the house of David, did rent themselves likewise from the true worship of God. 1718J. Fox Wanderer 127 To seize upon the..Books, divest them of the..Ornaments, by renting off the..Plates. 1865B. Brierley Irkdale (1868) 7 Rentin' o' ther clooas off their backs wi' blackberryin'.
3. intr. To tear; to give way or separate by tearing or splitting.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 260 b, Doutlesse his handes & fete dyd rent & teare for the weyght of his blessed body. 1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 10/2 Sometimes onlye the first table of the sculle breaketh and renteth. 1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 139 The soule grows more divine when the tabernacle of the body begins to rent. 1695Blackmore Pr. Arth. ii. 828 Though solid Rocks touch'd with Compassion rent, The more obdurate Jew does not relent. 1812–in Eng. Dial. Dict.
fig.1563B. Googe Eglogs iv. (Arb.) 45 My Harte with this began to rent. 1575Gascoigne Herbes Wks. (1587) 143 My griefe, Whereof to tel my heart (oh) rents in twaine.
▪ V. rent, ppl. a.|rɛnt|
[pa. pple. of rend v.]
Torn, in various senses; also, in predicative use, wearing torn or ragged clothing.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xlvi. (Anastace) 186 Fra þat place þan vald he ga, raggit & rent & blak alswa. 1382Wyclif Josh. ix. 4 Olde sackis..and rent wyn botels. c1440Promp. Parv. 430/1 Rent, and raggyd, lacerosus. 1582Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 20 Crash do the rent tacklings. 1597G. Harvey Trimming Nashe Wks. (Grosart) III. 25, I scorne such ragged rent-foorth speech. 1625Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 262 Our rent country cannot be drawn up, but must be torn more [and] more. 1818Shelley Rosal. & Helen 791 Like flowers delicate and fair, On its rent boughs. 1876Swinburne Erechtheus 1345 Earth groans from her great rent heart. |