I. ˈhabə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English habit, abit, from Old French, from Latin habitus condition, appearance, attire, character, disposition, habit, from habēre to have, hold — more at give
1. archaic
a. : clothing , apparel
costly thy habit as thy purse can buy — Shakespeare
: mode of dress
in the vile habit of a village slave — Alexander Pope
b. : a garment or a suit of clothes : outfit
2.
a. : a costume indicative or characteristic of a calling, rank, or function
monk's habit
b. : riding habit
3. : bearing , conduct , behavior — used especially in Scots law in the phrase habit and repute
marriage by habit and repute
4.
a. : bodily appearance or makeup : physical type : physique
his corpulent habit of body, natural both to the vigor of his type and to a sedentary way of life — Osbert Sitwell
b. obsolete : the body as a physiological organism : the system of bodily processes
c. obsolete : the body's surface
5. : the prevailing disposition or character of a person's thoughts and feelings : mental makeup
where he has gone to indulge a contemplative habit — L.J.Halle
a whole habit of sensibility — F.R.Leavis
6.
a. of a person : a settled tendency of behavior or normal manner of procedure : custom , practice , way
contributed letters to the newspapers — a habit that became a lifelong one — B.J.Hendrick
the local habit of building in perishable materials — Bernard Newman
b. of a thing : a usual manner of occurrence or behavior : tendency
black clouds there have a habit of sitting right on the water — Ira Wolfert
paste has a habit of going hard and lumpy once opened
7.
a. : a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or developed as a physiologic function and showing itself in regularity
the daily bowel habit
or increased facility of performance or in a decreased power of resistance
a drug habit
b. : an acquired or developed mode of behavior or function that has become nearly or completely involuntary
put the keys back in his pocket through force of habit
8. of an organism : characteristic mode of growth or occurrence
elms have a spreading habit
a grass ubiquitous in its habit
9. : the characteristic crystalline size and form of a substance
10. archaic : close acquaintance : familiarity
he inclines to a sort of disgust … with the system and he has few … habits with any of its professors — Edmund Burke
11. : a generic entity occurring as an external or supernatural reality or force constitutive of or acting on an individual
12. : addiction 2a
was forced to steal to feed his drug habit
Synonyms:
habitude , practice , usage , custom , use , wont : these all have in common the sense of a way of behaving that has become more or less fixed; in most cases they have the sense of such a way considered collectively or in the abstract. habit , usually applying to individuals, signifies a way of acting or thinking done frequently enough to have become unconscious or unpremeditated in each repetition or to have become compulsive
the habit of dawdling on the way to school
a persistent habit of coughing
habits of mind
speech habits
habitude usually suggests habitual or usual state of mind or attitude
you who are so sincere with me are never quite sincere with others. You have contracted this bad habitude from your custom of addressing the people — W.S.Landor
a confusion of assertions, viewpoints, personal motives and prejudices, and local habitudes can serve only to darken counsel — Yale Review
practice suggests an act, often habitual, repeated with regularity and usually by choice
the team made a practice of leaving their scenarios unfinished until actual production — Current Biography
promised the people that he would establish democratic practices — Collier's Year Book
the practice of supplementing poultry and hog feeds with antibiotics — Americana Annual
the practice of self-examination — Anne Fremantle
usage suggests more a customary action, a practice followed so generally that it has become a social norm
an unwritten constitution comprising ancient British conventions and usage — Americana Annual
earn a living in a business community without yielding to its usages — W.H.Hamilton
better versed in diplomatic usage than any of his colleagues — F.A.Ogg & Harold Zink
custom can apply to habit, practice, or usage that has become public and associated with an individual or group because of its long continuance, its uniformity, and often, its morally compulsive quality
it is the Arabian custom to date, if possible, the birth of sons by unusual events — Current Biography
in contemporary society it is not a fashion that men wear trousers; it is the custom — Edward Sapir
the custom — and this is all that it can be properly called — according to which Congress and the President tacitly agree to abide by the interpretation of the Court — M.R.Cohen
use , rare in current speech, signifies a customary act or practice more or less distinctive of an individual or particular group
the polite uses of society
the religious use and wont of the country people
wont applies to a habitual or customary manner, method, or practice distinguishing an individual or group; it differs from use only in extending to manner
intended to come oftener to church than had been his wont of late — William Black
this nice balance between sovereignty and liberty is maintained by use and wont — V.L.Parrington
a people living by wont in a natural atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust, and consumed by fantasies — V.S.Pritchett
Synonym: see in addition physique .
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: clothe , dress
the nature of such pedantry to habit itself in a harsh and crabbed style — R.M.Weaver
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English habiten to dwell, reside, from Middle French habiter, from Latin habitare to have possession of, inhabit, dwell, abide, from habitus, past participle of habēre to have, hold — more at give
intransitive verb
obsolete : live , abide
transitive verb
1. archaic : inhabit
2. archaic : accustom , habituate