What is "se-tenant"

n. A set of postage stamps with differing values, colours, etc, but printed on the same sheet.

Se-tenant stamps or labels are printed from the same plate and sheet and adjoin one another, unsevered in a strip or block. They differ from each other by design, color, denomination or overprint. They may have a continuous design. The word "se-tenant" translates from French as meaning "joined together" or "holding together".

There are differing ways of preparing a se-tenant sheet. One can have stamps of one design on half of the sheet and the second design on the other half. In this case, the only se-tenants would be in the center where the two halves meet. A more frequent set-up is to have pairs of differing stamps throughout the sheet. Sometimes when two different designs appear on a single pane, the stamps are arranged like a checkerboard, with the different designs alternating in each row and column horizontally and vertically. One can have a triptych, or a tête-bêche format (head to toe). Stamp booklets often contain se-tenant stamps or labels.

Se-tenant can mean one of two things:

• Se-tenant (philately), two or more different designs or values of stamp printed together in the same sheet
• Semi-detached house, also known as a se-tenant house, a form of terraced house in which only two properties are joined together