Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.
  • noun An established disposition of the mind or character.
  • noun Customary manner or practice.
  • noun An addiction, especially to a narcotic drug.
  • noun Characteristic appearance, form, or manner of growth, especially of a plant or crystal.
  • noun A distinctive set of clothing or style of dressing, especially of a religious order.
  • noun A riding habit.
  • noun Archaic Physical constitution.
  • transitive verb To clothe; dress.
  • transitive verb To clothe in a habit, especially a nun's habit.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To dwell; abide; reside.
  • 1. To dwell in; inhabit.
  • To fix by custom; accustom; habituate.
  • To dress; clothe; array.
  • noun In petrography, the general appearance of a rock given by the texture and the mode, that is, the mineral composition. Rocks may have the same habit and not agree closely in composition.
  • noun A small piece of linen attached to a woman's collar at the back, designed to go under the neck of the dress and keep the collar in place.
  • noun A usual or characteristic state or condition; natural condition, attitude, appearance, or development; customary mode of being.
  • noun A usual or customary mode of action; particularly, a mode of action so established by use as to be entirely natural, involuntary, instinctive, unconscious, uncontrollable, etc.: used especially of the action, whether physical, mental, or moral, of living beings, but also, by extension, of that of inanimate things; hence, in general, custom; usage; also, a natural or more generally an acquired proclivity, disposition, or tendency to act in a certain way.
  • noun In logic, a character which can be separated from its subject, without the destruction of the latter.
  • noun External dress; particularly, the costume or dress regularly worn, or appropriate for a particular occasion, use, or vocation.
  • noun A costume worn by women when riding on horseback; a riding-habit.
  • noun The grade marked by this dress. Entering this grade involves almost entire seclusion from earthly things, and constant devotion to religious exercises. Most Oriental monks do not assume the great habit except at the approach of death, the greater number being vowed to the little habit only.
  • noun In Scotland, general report: as, by habit and repute a thief.
  • noun The grade marked by this dress. Those who wish to enter this grade have first to pass through the rhasophoria or novitiate. See great habit.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The usual condition or state of a person or thing, either natural or acquired, regarded as something had, possessed, and firmly retained; ; esp., physical temperament or constitution.
  • noun (Biol.) The general appearance and manner of life of a living organism.
  • noun Fixed or established custom; ordinary course of conduct; practice; usage; hence, prominently, the involuntary tendency or aptitude to perform certain actions which is acquired by their frequent repetition; ; also, peculiar ways of acting; characteristic forms of behavior.
  • noun Outward appearance; attire; dress; hence, a garment; esp., a closely fitting garment or dress worn by ladies.
  • noun The distinctive clothing worn commonly by nuns or monks.
  • transitive verb obsolete To inhabit.
  • transitive verb To dress; to clothe; to array.
  • transitive verb obsolete To accustom; to habituate.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An action done on a regular basis.
  • noun An action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness.
  • noun A long piece of clothing worn by monks and nuns.
  • noun A piece of clothing worn uniformly for a specific activity.
  • noun Customary manner of dress.
  • noun An addiction.
  • verb To clothe.
  • verb archaic To inhabit.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an established custom
  • noun attire that is typically worn by a horseback rider (especially a woman's attire)
  • noun the general form or mode of growth (especially of a plant or crystal)
  • verb put a habit on
  • noun excessive use of drugs
  • noun a distinctive attire worn by a member of a religious order
  • noun (psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, clothing, from Old French, clothing, behavior, custom, from Latin habitus, from past participle of habēre, to have; see ghabh- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old French habit, from Latin habitus ("condition, bearing, state, appearance, dress, attire"), from habeō ("I have, hold, keep"); see have.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English habiten, from Old French habiter, from Latin habitāre, present active infinitive of habitō, frequentative of habeō ("I have, hold, keep"); see have.

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Examples

  • When work has become a habit, the intellectual level rises rapidly, and organized order causes good conduct to become a _habit_.

    Spontaneous Activity in Education Maria Montessori 1911

  • In general, we may say that habit bears a twofold relation to attention: on the one hand, _facile attention shows the reign of habit_.

    The Story of the Mind James Mark Baldwin 1897

  • Addiction is a tricky thing, and the first thing I believe our friend Sid would recommend is to explore whether what you are calling a habit is an addiction.

    Lodro Rinzler: A Fresh Take On Drugs And Buddhism Lodro Rinzler 2011

  • Addiction is a tricky thing, and the first thing I believe our friend Sid would recommend is to explore whether what you are calling a habit is an addiction.

    Lodro Rinzler: A Fresh Take On Drugs And Buddhism Lodro Rinzler 2011

  • And a habit is all they can reasonably hope for -- the absolute value of both gifts was negligible, according to one Slate blogger, who points out that the $10,000 senior gift at Dartmouth makes up .001 percent of the money lost by Dartmouth in the recession, and Cornell's $80,000 a mere .006 percent of the endowment lost in 2009.

    At Dartmouth And Cornell, Students Shamed For Not Giving To Class Gift Funds The Huffington Post News Team 2010

  • Addiction is a tricky thing, and the first thing I believe our friend Sid would recommend is to explore whether what you are calling a habit is an addiction.

    Lodro Rinzler: A Fresh Take On Drugs And Buddhism Lodro Rinzler 2011

  • Addiction is a tricky thing, and the first thing I believe our friend Sid would recommend is to explore whether what you are calling a habit is an addiction.

    Lodro Rinzler: A Fresh Take On Drugs And Buddhism Lodro Rinzler 2011

  • And a habit is all they can reasonably hope for -- the absolute value of both gifts was negligible, according to one Slate blogger, who points out that the $10,000 senior gift at Dartmouth makes up .001 percent of the money lost by Dartmouth in the recession, and Cornell's $80,000 a mere .006 percent of the endowment lost in 2009.

    At Dartmouth And Cornell, Students Shamed For Not Giving To Class Gift Funds Danielle Wiener-Bronner 2010

  • This habit is a good one for your body in many ways, as it washes out your system, and is needed in order to maintain a healthy diet and a clear, healthy complexion.

    22 Natural Ways to Prevent Colds and the Flu | Impact Lab 2007

  • Character is nothing more than the sum and co-ordination of those mechanisms which we call habit and which are formed on the basis of the inherited and instinctive tendencies and dispositions which we share in so large a measure with the lower animals.

    Introduction to the Science of Sociology Robert Ezra Park 1926

Comments

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  • If there is one universal law it is habit. Reality is perceived of by humans as constructed of, and totally dependent on habit. Only when things are going in their normal, habitual fashion do mortals consider life to be normal. When temporary deviations therefrom appear, men feel that circumstances have become UNreal.

    --Jan Cox

    May 22, 2007

  • "6. The grade marked by this dress. Entering this grade involves almost entire seclusion from earthly things, and constant devotion to religious exercises. Most Oriental monks do not assume the great habit except at the approach of death, the greater number being vowed to the little habit only."

    --Century Dictionary

    January 5, 2011