se-tenantadj.
/sətəˈnɒ̃/ Philately.
Of postage stamps: joined together as when printed; usually applied to two or more stamps of different denominations or designs. Also as quasi-adv.
ΚΠ
1911 F. J. Melville Chats on Postage Stamps 49 Se tenant.—A French expression signifying that the stamps referred to have not been separated: usually employed in reference to an error, or variety, when still forming a pair with a normal stamp.
1938 D. B. Armstrong Key to Stamp Collecting (at cited word) Se Tenant.—French phrase meaning ‘joined together’, and applied to a pair of stamps, one of which differs from the other.
1957 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 715 a/1 Se-tenant stamps are two or more unsevered from each other. The term is usually applied to unusual pairs or larger pieces in which one or more of the stamps differs from the other. Sometimes two denominations of stamps will be printed in one sheet and a pair of stamps of the different denominations would be described as ‘a se-tenant pair’.
1971 D. Potter Brit. Elizabethan Stamps iii. 44 1968 was even quieter. Only four sets, no strange se-tenant strips or funny business.
1980 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts July 535/2 The stamps have been printed as four se-tenant designs of one value, that is four different designs joined together on one sheet.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
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adj.1911