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habit

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hab⋅it

1  [hab-it]
Use habit in a Sentence
–noun
1. an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary: the habit of looking both ways before crossing the street.
2. customary practice or use: Daily bathing is an American habit.
3. a particular practice, custom, or usage: the habit of shaking hands.
4. a dominant or regular disposition or tendency; prevailing character or quality: She has a habit of looking at the bright side of things.
5. addiction, esp. to narcotics (often prec. by the).
6. mental character or disposition: a habit of mind.
7. characteristic bodily or physical condition.
8. the characteristic form, aspect, mode of growth, etc., of an organism: a twining habit.
9. the characteristic crystalline form of a mineral.
10. garb of a particular rank, profession, religious order, etc.: a monk's habit.
11. the attire worn by a rider of a saddle horse.
–verb (used with object)
12. to clothe; array.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME < L habitus state, style, practice, equiv. to habi- (var. s. of habēre to have) + -tus verbal n. suffix; r. ME abit < OF

Synonyms:
2. bent, wont. 3. See custom. 10. dress, costume. 12. dress, garb, attire; deck out.
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hab⋅it

2  [hab-it]
–verb (used with object)
1. Archaic. to dwell in.
–verb (used without object)
2. Obsolete. to dwell.
Origin:
1325–75; ME habiten < L habitāre to inhabit; see habitat
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To habit
hab·it   (hāb'ĭt)   
n.  

    1. A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.

    2. An established disposition of the mind or character.

    3. A distinctive dress or costume, especially of a religious order.

    4. A riding habit.

  2. Customary manner or practice: a person of ascetic habits.

  3. An addiction, especially to a narcotic drug.

  4. Physical constitution.

  5. Characteristic appearance, form, or manner of growth, especially of a plant or crystal.

    1. A distinctive dress or costume, especially of a religious order.

    2. A riding habit.

tr.v.   hab·it·ed, hab·it·ing, hab·its
To clothe; dress.

[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.]
Synonyms: These nouns denote patterns of behavior established by continual repetition. Habit applies to a behavior or practice so ingrained that it is often done without conscious thought: "Habit rules the unreflecting herd" (William Wordsworth).
Practice denotes an often chosen pattern of individual or group behavior: "You will find it a very good practice always to verify your references, sir" (Martin Joseph Routh).
Custom is behavior as established by long practice and especially by accepted conventions: "No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion" (Carrie Chapman Catt).
Usage refers to an accepted standard for a group that regulates individual behavior: "laws ... corrected, altered, and amended by acts of parliament and common usage" (William Blackstone).
Use and wont are terms for customary and distinctive practice: "situations where the use and wont of their fathers no longer meet their necessities" (J.A. Froude).
Habitude refers to an individual's behaving in a certain way rather than a specific act: "His real habitude gave life and grace/To appertainings and to ornament" (Shakespeare).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
habit

  1. n.
    an addiction to a drug. : There are many treatment programs to help with drug habits.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

habit 
c.1225, from O.Fr. habit, from L. habitus "condition, demeanor, appearance, dress," originally pp. of habere "to have, to hold, possess," from PIE base *ghabh- "to seize, take, hold, have, give, receive" (cf. Skt. gabhasti- "hand, forearm;" O.Ir. gaibim "I take, hold, I have," gabal "act of taking;" Lith. gabana "armful," gabenti "to remove;" Goth. gabei "riches;" O.E. giefan, O.N. gefa "to give"). Base sense probably "to hold," which can be either in offering or in taking. Applied in Latin to both inner and outer states of being, and taken over in both sense by English, though meaning of "dress" is now restricted to monks and nuns. Drug sense is from 1887. Habitual first attested 1526.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: hab·it
Pronunciation: 'hab-&t
Function: noun
1 : bodily appearance or makeup especially as indicative of one's capacities andcondition habit>
2 : a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior
3 a : a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition orphysiological exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance habit> —compare REFLEX 2 b : an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary habit> c : ADDICTION habit>
4 : characteristic mode of growth or occurrence
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

habit hab·it (hāb'ĭt)
n.

  1. A recurrent, often unconscious, pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.

  2. Physical constitution.

  3. An addiction, especially to a narcotic drug.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

habit

see kick a habit.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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