GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Habit  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.]
    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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   (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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   +PJC
   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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   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.
   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.
   PJC
   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 , 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.]
   To inhabit. [Obs.]
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   In thilke places as they [birds] habiten.
   Rom. of R. 
   
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   To dress; to clothe; to array.
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   They habited themselves like those rural deities.
   Dryden.
   
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   To accustom; to habituate. [Obs.]
   Chapman.
   
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