means A regular payment made to use property—land, a home, equipment—that belongs to someone else.

from From Old French 'rente,' meaning income or revenue, which traces back through Vulgar Latin to the Latin verb 'reddere,' to give back or render. The thread is older than landlords: it began as the idea of something owed and returned at fixed intervals—what the land paid back to its lord. Note this is a different word entirely from the 'rent' meaning a tear or split, which comes from the Old English verb 'rendan,' to rip apart—a coincidence of spelling, not a shared root.