habit
pronunciation
How to pronounce habit in British English:
UK [ˈhæbɪt]
How to pronounce habit in American English:
US [ˈhæbɪt]
-
- Noun:
- an established custom
- a pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition
- (religion) a distinctive attire (as the costume of a religious order)
- excessive use of drugs
-
- Verb:
- put a habit on
Word Origin
- habit
- habit: [13] Etymologically, a habit is ‘what one has’. The word comes via Old French abit from Latin habitus, originally the past participle of the verb habēre ‘have’. This was used reflexively for ‘be’, and so the past participle came to be used as a noun for ‘how one is’ – one’s ‘state’ or ‘condition’. Subsequently this developed along the lines of both ‘outward condition or appearance’, hence ‘clothing’, and ‘inner condition, quality, nature, character’, later ‘usual way of behaving’.This proliferation of meaning took place in Latin, and was taken over lock, stock, and barrel by English, although the ‘clothing’ sense now survives only in relation to monks, nuns, and horseriders. (Incidentally, the notion of adapting the verb have to express ‘how one is, how one comports oneself’ recurs in behave.) Derived from Latin habitus was the verb habitāre, originally literally ‘have something frequently or habitually’, hence ‘live in a place’.This has given English habitation [14], inhabit [14], and also habitat [18], literally ‘it dwells’, the third person present singular of habitāre, which was used in medieval and Renaissance books on natural history to describe the sort of place in which a particular species lived. Malady [13] comes via Old French from an unrecorded Vulgar Latin *male habitus ‘in bad condition’.=> habitat, inhabit, malady
- habit (n.)
- early 13c., "characteristic attire of a religious or clerical order," from Old French habit, abit "clothing, (ecclesiastical) habit; conduct" (12c.), from Latin habitus "condition, demeanor, appearance, dress," originally past participle of habere "to have, hold, possess; wear; find oneself, be situated; consider, think, reason, have in mind; manage, keep," from PIE root *ghabh- "to give; to receive" (cognates: Sanskrit gabhasti- "hand, forearm;" Old Irish gaibim "I take, hold, I have," gabal "act of taking;" Lithuanian gabana "armful," gabenti "to remove;" Gothic gabei "riches;" Old English giefan, Old Norse gefa "to give"). The basic sense of the root probably is "to hold," which can be either in offering or in taking. Meaning "clothing generally" is from late 14c. Meaning "customary practice, usual mode of action" is early 14c. Drug sense is from 1887. The Latin word was applied to both inner and outer states of being, and both senses were taken in English, though meaning of "dress" now is restricted to monks and nuns. In 19c. it also was used of the costume worn by women when riding on horseback.
- habit (v.)
- mid-14c., "to dwell, reside; dwell in" (obsolete), from Old French habiter, abiter "to dwell, inhabit; have dealings with," from Latin habitare "to live, dwell; stay, remain," frequentative of habere "to have, to hold, possess" (see habit (n.)). Meaning "to dress" is from 1580s. Related: Habited; habiting.
Example
- 1. She too had the habit of fear .
- 2. We seem to be kicking the habit .
- 3. In a modern predator , that would indicate the habit of eating fish .
- 4. Make daily relaxation a habit .
- 5. Another bad habit has developed .