*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of habit

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰéh₁yeti Proto-Italic *haβēō Latin habeō Proto-Indo-European *-t

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

An action performed on a regular basis. · An action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness. · An addiction.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰéh₁yeti Proto-Italic *haβēō Latin habeō Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin habitusder. Middle English habit English habit From Middle English habit, from Latin habitus (“condition, bearing, state, appearance, dress, attire”), from habeō (“to have, hold, keep”). Distantly related to gift. Replaced Middle English abit, from Old French abit, itself from the same Latin source. Displaced native Old English þēaw, wuna, ġewuna, and sidu.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*gʰeh₁bʰ-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:habit<ety:der<la:habitus<ety:der<la:habeō<ety:der<ine-pro:*gʰeh₁bʰ->>>>>>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti\nProto-Indo-European *-yeti\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti\nProto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰéh₁yeti\nProto-Italic *haβēō\nLatin habeō\nProto-Indo-European *-tus\nProto-Italic *-tus\nLatin -tus\nLatin habitusder.\nMiddle English habit\nEnglish habit\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"gloss\" : \"to have\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"have\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*gʰh₁bʰéh₁yeti\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*gʰeh₁bʰ-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-éh₁ti\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-yeti\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-éh₁yeti\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"term\" : \"*haβēō\", \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"habeō\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" }, { \"id\" : \"action noun\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"action noun\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-tus\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\", \"pos\" : \"suffix deriving action nouns from verb roots\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"term\" : \"*-tus\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"-tus\", \"lang\" : \"la\", \"pos\" : \"noun formation suffix\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"habitus\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"habit\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"habit\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"habit\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "habit"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English habit"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "habitus",
        "4": "",
        "5": "condition, bearing, state, appearance, dress, attire"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin habitus (“condition, bearing, state, appearance, dress, attire”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "abit"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English abit"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "abit"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French abit"
    },
    {
      "name": "noncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "þēaw"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English þēaw"
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:habit<ety:der<la:habitus<ety:der<la:habeō<ety:der<ine-pro:*gʰeh₁bʰ->>>>>>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti\nProto-Indo-European *-yeti\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti\nProto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰéh₁yeti\nProto-Italic *haβēō\nLatin habeō\nProto-Indo-European *-tus\nProto-Italic *-tus\nLatin -tus\nLatin habitusder.\nMiddle English habit\nEnglish habit"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*gʰeh₁bʰ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/gʰeh₁bʰ-"
    ],
    [
      "*-éh₁ti",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-éh₁ti"
    ],
    [
      "*-yeti",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-yeti"
    ],
    [
      "*-éh₁yeti",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-éh₁yeti"
    ],
    [
      "*haβēō",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/haβēō#Proto-Italic:_have"
    ],
    [
      "habeō",
      "habeo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*-tus",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-tus#Proto-Indo-European:_action_noun"
    ],
    [
      "*-tus",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/-tus"
    ],
    [
      "-tus",
      "-tus#Latin:_action_noun"
    ],
    [
      "habitus",
      "habitus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "habit",
      "habit#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "habit",
      "habit#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "habitus",
      "habitus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "habeō",
      "habeo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "gift",
      "gift"
    ],
    [
      "abit",
      "abit#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "abit",
      "abit#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "þēaw",
      "þeaw#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "wuna",
      "wuna#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "ġewuna",
      "gewuna#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "sidu",
      "sidu#Old_English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An action performed on a regular basis.",
        "An action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness.",
        "An addiction."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 18677
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

A long piece of clothing worn by monks and nuns. · A piece of clothing worn for a specific activity; a uniform. · Outward appearance; attire; dress. · Form of growth or general appearance and structure of a plant or crystal.

verb

To clothe. · To inhabit.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English habiten, from Old French habiter, from Latin habitāre (“to dwell, abide, keep”), frequentative of habeō (“to have, hold, keep”); see have.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionhabitenenm
  • Derivation mentionhabiterfro
  • Derivation mentionhabitōla · to dwell, abide, keep
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "habiten"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English habiten"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "habiter"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French habiter"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "habitō",
        "4": "habitāre",
        "t": "to dwell, abide, keep"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin habitāre (“to dwell, abide, keep”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "habiten",
      "habiten#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "habiter",
      "habiter#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "habitāre",
      "habito#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "habeō",
      "habeo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "have",
      "have"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A long piece of clothing worn by monks and nuns.",
        "A piece of clothing worn for a specific activity; a uniform.",
        "Outward appearance; attire; dress.",
        "Form of growth or general appearance and structure of a plant or crystal."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable",
        "archaic",
        "form-of"
      ],
      "recordId": "290d0634febbed51b2dc63c9d4635e5cbef4cc394e057ff9bac54ced69050cb2",
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 18679
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To clothe.",
        "To inhabit."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "archaic"
      ],
      "recordId": "d3c2c5ccc3f8e41070199e947df9beb4f247c8f1170fec15db89b0998fe615f0",
      "rawRecordSha256": "3c07690f273fd98eec1b77adaafcb15e6e98b92cbef3b85852922433475b360d",
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "lexicalSenses": 0,
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  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for habit →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-aGFiaXQ