habit
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈhæbɪt/
- (weak vowel merger) IPA(key): /ˈhæbət/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æbɪt
Etymology 1
From Middle English habit, from Latin habitus (“condition, bearing, state, appearance, dress, attire”), from habeō (“I have, hold, keep”). Replaced Middle English abit, from Old French abit, itself from the same Latin source.
Noun
habit (countable and uncountable, plural habits)
- An action performed on a regular basis.
- Washington Irving
- a man of very shy, retired habits
- 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:
- Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.
- It’s become a habit of mine to have a cup of coffee after dinner.
- Washington Irving
- An action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness.
- By force of habit, he dressed for work even though it was holiday.
- A long piece of clothing worn by monks and nuns.
- It’s interesting how Catholic and Buddhist monks both wear habits.
- A piece of clothing worn uniformly for a specific activity.
- The new riding habits of the team looked smashing!
- (archaic) Outward appearance; attire; dress.
- Shakespeare
- Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy.
- Addison
- There are, among the statues, several of Venus, in different habits.
- 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
- […] it was always my fate to choose for the worse, so I did here; for having money in my pocket and good clothes upon my back, I would always go on board in the habit of a gentleman; and so I neither had any business in the ship, or learned to do any.
- Shakespeare
- (botany, mineralogy) Form of growth or general appearance of a variety or species of plant or crystal.
- An addiction.
- He has a 10-cigar habit.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Etymology 2
From Middle English habiten, from Old French habiter, from Latin habitāre, present active infinitive of habitō (“I dwell, abide, keep”), frequentative of habeō (“I have, hold, keep”); see have.
Verb
habit (third-person singular simple present habits, present participle habiting, simple past and past participle habited)
Related terms
Translations
Further reading
- habit in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- habit in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Albanian
Etymology
Borrowed from Proto-Slavic *xabiti ("to spoil, to waste"). Compare Serbo-Croatian habiti. [1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /haˈbit/
Verb
habit (first-person singular past tense habita, participle habitur)
Derived terms
- habi
- habitshëm
- habitur
- habitje
- habitore
References
- Orel, Vladimir (1998), “habit”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, page 141
French
Etymology
From Old French habit, abit, borrowed from Latin habitus.
Pronunciation
- (mute h) IPA(key): /a.bi/
Audio (file)
Noun
habit m (plural habits)
- article of clothing, garment, dress-coat, evening dress, tails, full dress
Related terms
Further reading
- “habit” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Old French
Noun
habit m (oblique plural habiz or habitz, nominative singular habiz or habitz, nominative plural habit)
- Alternative form of abit
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈxa.bʲit/
Audio (file)