GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Habit (hăbˈĭt) n. [OE. habit, abit, F. habit, fr. L. habitus state, appearance, dress, fr. habere to have, be in a condition; prob. akin to E. have. See Have, and cf. Able, Binnacle, Debt, Due, Exhibit, Malady.]
   1. The usual condition or state of a person or thing, either natural or acquired, regarded as something had, possessed, and firmly retained; as, “a religious habit; his habit is morose; elms have a spreading habit”; esp., physical temperament or constitution; as, “a full habit of body”.
   
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   2. (Biol.) The general appearance and manner of life of a living organism. Specifically, the tendency of a plant or animal to grow in a certain way; as, “the deciduous habit of certain trees.”
   
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   3. 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; as, “habit is second nature”; also, peculiar ways of acting; characteristic forms of behavior.
   
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   A man of very shy, retired habits. W. Irving.
   
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   4. Outward appearance; attire; dress; hence, a garment; esp., a closely fitting garment or dress worn by ladies; as, “a riding habit”.
   
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   Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy. Shak.
   
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   There are, among the statues, several of Venus, in different habits. Addison.
   
   
   5. Hence: The distinctive clothing worn commonly by nuns or monks; as, “in the late 1900's many orders of nuns discarded their habits and began to dress as ordinary lay women”.
   
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   Syn. -- Practice; mode; manner; way; custom; fashion.  -- Habit, Custom.  Habit is a disposition or tendency leading us to do easily, naturally, and with growing certainty, what we do often; custom is external, being habitual use or the frequent repetition of the same act.  The two operate reciprocally on each other.  The custom of giving produces a habit of liberality; habits of devotion promote the custom of going to church.  Custom also supposes an act of the will, selecting given modes of procedure; habit is a law of our being, a kind of “second nature” which grows up within us.
   
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   How use doth breed a habit in a man! Shak.
   
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   He who reigns . . . upheld by old repute,
   
   Consent, or custom Milton.
   
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2.       
   Habit (hăbˈĭt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Habited; p. pr. & vb. n. Habiting.] [OE. habiten to dwell, F. habiter, fr. L. habitare to have frequently, to dwell, intens. fr. habere to have.  See Habit, n.]
   1. To inhabit. [Obs.]
   
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   In thilke places as they [birds] habiten.  Rom. of R.
   
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   2. To dress; to clothe; to array.
   
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   They habited themselves like those rural deities. Dryden.
   
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   3. To accustom; to habituate. [Obs.] Chapman.
   
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