lessee
leh-SEE
/lɛˈsiː/
A person or entity who holds the lease of a property; the tenant or renter.
This is a formal legal term. In everyday conversation, people say 'renter' or 'tenant', but in contracts, 'lessee' is used to avoid ambiguity.
The story behind the word. The suffix '-ee' comes from law French, used to designate the person who receives the action of a verb (like employee or payee). Thus, the 'lessee' is the person to whom the lease is granted.
Word relationships
- renter: Renter is a casual term for someone paying to use something short-term, whereas lessee is a legal term for a long-term contract holder.
- tenant: Tenant is primarily used for real estate (apartments, land), while lessee applies to both real estate and physical assets like cars.
- lessor: The lessor is the owner who grants the lease, while the lessee is the customer who receives it.
Commonly confused with
- lessor: The lessor is the landlord/owner (ends in -or, like creator/owner); the lessee is the tenant/user (ends in -ee, like employee/payee).
Collocations
- lessee's obligations
- rights of the lessee
- corporate lessee
Example sentences
- "The lessee is required to maintain comprehensive insurance coverage on the vehicle throughout the duration of the contract." A clause in a commercial vehicle contract.
- "If the vehicle is damaged, the lessee must pay the deductible before the insurance coverage kicks in." An explanation of financial liabilities.
Memory hook
The less-EE is the one who pays the f-EE to use the car. Lessee = Renter (receives the lease).
When not to use
Avoid using this in casual conversation; telling a friend 'I am the lessee of this sedan' sounds overly stiff and pretentious.
Fun facts
- Law French, the language from which 'lessee' originates, was used in English courts for centuries after the Norman Conquest, which is why modern legal English is full of French-derived terms.
Also appears in
Take your vocabulary further with LangBlitz
Our English vocabulary app: FSRS spaced repetition, 5,000+ curated words across 119 topic groups, CEFR A1 to C2. Explore your mastery with the beautiful Vocabulary World feature.