Subletter

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual who leases their rented premises to another person while still being responsible for the terms of the original lease agreement
2. A person who assigns their rental rights to someone else, retaining accountability for the lease obligations to the landlord
3. Someone who rents a property and then lets another person live there under their lease while still responsible for the rental agreement

Etymology: The word is a plain English formation: "sublet" plus the agent suffix "-er," meaning one who sublets. To sublet is to rent out property you yourself rent from someone else, so a subletter is the tenant who passes the lease along to a new occupant. The "sub-" is the Latin prefix meaning "under" or "below," reflecting that the subletter sits in a subordinate position in the chain of tenancy, beneath the original landlord. The "-er" ending has a long pedigree. It descends from the Latin "-arius," which denoted a person connected with a trade or role, passed through Old French "-ier" into Middle English "-er," and so became one of English's most productive ways of naming people by what they do. Attaching it to a verb phrase like "sublet" is a natural extension of that old pattern.

Synonyms: tenant, lessee, occupant, renter, lessee