Chapter H to Hack of H by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

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.

How use doth breed a habit in a man !

Shak.

He who reigns . . . upheld by old repute,
Consent, or custom.

Milton.

Habit
(Hab"it) 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.]

In thilke places as they [birds] habiten.

Rom. of R.

2. To dress; to clothe; to array.

They habited themselves like those rural deities.

Dryden.

3. To accustom; to habituate. [Obs.] Chapman.

Habitability
(Hab`it*a*bil"i*ty) (- a*bil"i*ty), n. Habitableness.

Habitable
(Hab"it*a*ble) a. [F. habitable, L. habitabilis.] Capable of being inhabited; that may be inhabited or dwelt in; as, the habitable world. — Hab"it*a*ble*ness, n. — Hab"it*a*bly, adv.

Habitacle
(Hab"it*a*cle) n. [F. habitacle dwelling place, binnacle, L. habitaculum dwelling place. See Binnacle, Habit, v.] A dwelling place. Chaucer. Southey.

Habitan
(Ha`bi`tan") n. Same as Habitant, 2.

General Arnold met an emissary . . . sent . . . to ascertain the feelings of the habitans or French yeomanry.

W. Irwing.

Habitance
(Hab"it*ance) n. [OF. habitance, LL. habitantia.] Dwelling; abode; residence. [Obs.] Spenser.

Habitancy
(Hab"it*an*cy) n. Same as Inhabitancy.

Habitant
(Hab"it*ant) n. [F. habitant. See Habit, v. t.]

1. An inhabitant; a dweller. Milton. Pope.

2. [F. pron. a`be`tä&nsc"] An inhabitant or resident; — a name applied to and denoting farmers of French descent or origin in Canada, especially in the Province of Quebec; — usually in the plural.

The habitants or cultivators of the soil.

Parkman.

Habitat
(Hab"i*tat) n. [L., it dwells, fr. habitare. See Habit, v. t.]

1. (Biol.) The natural abode, locality or region of an animal or plant.

2. Place where anything is commonly found.

This word has its habitat in Oxfordshire.

Earle.