Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state of being habitable; capacity of being inhabited.

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

  • noun suitability for living in or on

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The properties possessed by earth are immobility, weight, hardness, productiveness, scent, density, capacity to absorb scents of all kinds, cohesion, habitableness (in respect of vegetables and animals), and that attribute of the mind which is called patience of the capacity to bear.

    The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 Books 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 Kisari Mohan [Translator] Ganguli

  • On one side I saw a mound of the same, making a couch, across which a great cloak was spread; while beyond, the half-defined forms of a rude seat and table appeared, lending an air of habitableness to the spot, which, from the exterior, I had hardly expected to find.

    The Forsaken Inn A Novel Anna Katharine Green 1890

  • Milton; while a bookcase, filled apparently with the father's college books and college prizes and the favourite authors -- mostly poets, philosophers, and theologians -- of his later years, gave a final touch of habitableness to the room.

    Robert Elsmere Humphry Ward 1885

  • Both the public rooms are in a state of perfect habitableness again;

    Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle 1883

  • It is a kind of natural magic that enables these favored ones to bring out the hidden capabilities of things around them; and particularly to give a look of comfort and habitableness to any place which, for however brief a period, may happen to be their home.

    The House of the Seven Gables 1851

  • It is a kind of natural magic that enables these favored ones to bring out the hidden capabilities of things around them; and particularly to give a look of comfort and habitableness to any place which, for however brief a period, may happen to be their home.

    The House of the Seven Gables 1851

  • With the assistance of Baptiste, she had planted vines which flung over the outer walls a green drapery, intermingled with roses, honeysuckle, and jasmine; and, within doors, a few chairs, a well-worn sofa, a table, and footstool gave to the rustic apartment an appearance of habitableness and comfort.

    Fairy Fingers A Novel Anna Cora Ogden Mowatt Ritchie 1844

  • It is a kind of natural magic that enables these favored ones to bring out the hidden capabilities of things around them; and particularly to give a look of comfort and habitableness to any place which, for however brief a period, may happen to be their home.

    House of the Seven Gables Nathaniel Hawthorne 1834

  • Impatient at the delay of the key, my noble host, with one of his humorous maledictions, gave a vigorous kick to the door and burst it open; on which we at once entered into an apartment not only spacious and elegant, but wearing an aspect of comfort and habitableness which to a traveller's eye is as welcome as it is rare.

    Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 4 (of 6) With His Letters and Journals Thomas Moore 1815

  • All the sunny south windows facing the Schloss Platz rejoiced for days beforehand in open draperies and freshly cleaned plate glass, giving an unwonted look of cheer and human habitableness to the majestic and venerable pile through which we had walked, a few weeks before, with hushed voices and muffled footsteps, gazing on the rich decorations of the public rooms, the glittering candelabra, the silver balustrades, the ancient plate, the historic paintings and monuments which recall past centuries and vanished sovereigns.

    In and Around Berlin Minerva Brace Norton

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