habit

1 of 2

noun

hab·​it ˈha-bət 

1

: a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior

her habit of taking a morning walk

2

a

: an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary

got up early from force of habit

b

: addiction

a drug habit

c

: a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance

the daily bowel habit

3

a

: a costume characteristic of a calling, rank, or function

a nun's habit

b

: a costume worn for horseback riding

4

archaic : clothing

5

: manner of conducting oneself : bearing

6

: bodily appearance or makeup

a man of fleshy habit

7

: the prevailing disposition or character of a person's thoughts and feelings : mental makeup

a philosophical habit

8

of an organism : characteristic mode of growth or occurrence

a grass similar to Indian corn in habit

9

of a crystal : characteristic assemblage of forms at crystallization leading to a usual appearance : shape

habit

2 of 2

verb

habited; habiting; habits

transitive verb

literary

: to cover with or as if with clothing : clothe

… she habited herself in a peculiarly becoming dress of white linen …

—E. F. Benson

(figurative) It is the nature of such pedantry to habit itself in a harsh and crabbed style.

—Richard M. Weaver

Did you know?

The Origin and Etymology of Habit

The word habit most often refers to a usual way of behaving or a tendency that someone has settled into, as in "good eating habits."

In its oldest sense, however, habit meant "clothing" and had nothing to do with the things a person does in a regular and repeated way. Today, this meaning is preserved only in phrases like "nun's habit," "monk's habit," and "riding habit" (clothes worn for horseback riding).

Like so many words that appeared in English in the centuries following the Norman Conquest, habit came from French. Indeed, the modern French word for clothes is habits (pronounced \ah-bee\). In English, habit progressed from meaning “clothing” to “clothing for a particular profession or purpose” to “bearing, conduct, behavior." (The word’s evolution brings to mind the old adage “the clothes make the man," which asserts that the way we dress reflects our character.)

From “what one wears” to “how one conducts oneself,” habit continued to evolve, referring to appearance (“a man of fleshy habit”) and mental makeup (“a philosophical habit”) before, after several centuries in English, it came to mean repeated activity: “a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition.”

The specific development of habit to refer to drug addiction began in the 19th century, with reference to opium.

Interestingly, even though “clothing” is the oldest meaning of habit in English, it wasn’t the original meaning of the word's ultimate Latin root, habitus. In Latin, that word’s original meaning was “state of being” or “condition.”

Our most common use of habit today, “acquired mode of behavior,” didn’t exist in Latin—habitus went from meaning “condition” to “how one conducts oneself” to “clothing.” That it was adapted into English in precisely the reverse order is an accident of history; the order of meanings absorbed from one language to another rarely constitutes a logical development. As with all language, meaning is established by usage and force of habit.

Synonyms

Noun

• custom
• fashion
• habitude
• pattern
• practice
• practise
• ritual
• second nature
• trick
• way
• wont

Verb

• apparel
• array
• attire
• bedeck
• caparison
• clothe
• costume
• deck (out)
• do up
• dress
• dress up
• enrobe
• garb
• garment
• get up
• gown
• invest
• rig (out)
• robe
• suit
• tog (up or out)
• toilet
• vesture

Choose the Right Synonym for habit

habit, practice, usage, custom, wont mean a way of acting fixed through repetition.

habit implies a doing unconsciously and often compulsively.

had a habit of tapping his fingers

practice suggests an act or method followed with regularity and usually through choice.

our practice is to honor all major credit cards

usage suggests a customary action so generally followed that it has become a social norm.

western-style dress is now common usage in international business

custom applies to a practice or usage so steadily associated with an individual or group as to have almost the force of unwritten law.

the custom of wearing black at funerals

wont usually applies to a habitual manner, method, or practice of an individual or group.

as was her wont, she slept until noon

Examples of habit in a Sentence

Noun

It was his habit to take a nap after dinner every evening.

It's important that parents teach their children good study habits.

He fell into some bad habits after graduating from college.

It's never easy to break a bad habit.

He still gets up early every day from habit.

She always closed the door softly out of habit.

He hasn't been able to kick his cocaine habit.

Verb

his exclusive clothing store had habited the town's upper crust for as long as anyone could remember

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Establish small, meaningful habits that align with your goals, such as: Running or walking daily, focusing on the act rather than the outcome. —Luciana Paulise, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024

Don't let these bad habits lead to expensive plumbing repairs. —Rabekah Henderson, Southern Living, 1 Dec. 2024

But microwaving coffee is a habit worth breaking, anyway. —Matthew Korfhage, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024

Trump also is said to have urged the doubling of shipping rates for companies such as Amazon, a move that would have been onerous for Jeff Bezos, whose newspaper, the Washington Post, had the irritating habit of committing journalism critical of the Administration. —David Remnick, The New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin habitus condition, character, from habēre to have, hold — more at give

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Verb

1594, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing habit

• by/from force of habit
• creature of habit
• fell into the habit
• force of habit
• habit-forming

Kids Definition

habit

noun

hab·​it

ˈhab-ət

1

: a costume characteristic of an occupation, rank, or function

her riding habit

a nun's habit

2

: a usual manner of behavior or thinking

his habit of taking a morning walk

3

: a way of behaving that has become fixed by being repeated often compare reflex entry 1 sense 1

4

: characteristic way of growing or occurring

elms have a spreading habit

Medical Definition

habit

noun

hab·​it ˈhab-ət 

1

: bodily appearance or makeup especially as indicative of one's capacities and condition

a man of fleshy habit

2

: a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior

3

a

: a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiological exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance

the daily bowel habit

b

: an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary

locked the door through force of habit

c

: addiction

was forced to steal to support his drug habit

4

: characteristic mode of growth or occurrence