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单词 habit
释义

habit

1 of 2

noun

hab·​it ˈha-bət How to pronounce habit (audio)
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
See all Synonyms & Antonyms

Example Sentences

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 See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The Diamondbacks have started to make a habit of doing damage against frontline pitching. Nick Piecoro, The Arizona Republic, 5 Sep. 2022 If your furniture doesn't get enough sunlight to dry it, move it into the sun or make a habit of drying your patio furniture with towels to remove standing water. Alicia Chilton, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Aug. 2022 As a result, some parents make a habit of using the emergency room to temporarily alleviate their child’s asthma attacks, rather than primary care visits to prevent them. Talis Shelbourne, jsonline.com, 26 Aug. 2022 And Apple might make a habit of it, according to recent reports. Chris Smith, BGR, 17 Aug. 2022 Pitching improves in the postseason and the Guards don’t have the kind of power to make a habit of coming from behind. Paul Hoynes, cleveland, 13 Aug. 2022 The four tweens at the center of the action make a habit of rising before dawn to deliver a daily newspaper (the fictional Cleveland Preserver) on their bicycles. Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 July 2022 Sumter County, where Royal is located, is among the regions where statewide candidates like Governor DeSantis – a Republican currently pursuing his second term – make a habit of visiting during reelection years. Xander Peters, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 July 2022 Instead, make a habit of empowering the task owner and the task owner alone to propose a reasonable task due date. Dana Brownlee, Forbes, 7 July 2022 See More

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

Kids Definition

habit

noun

hab·​it ˈha-bət How to pronounce habit (audio)
1
: usual way of behaving
We're studying the habits of wild birds.
2
: clothing worn for a special purpose
a riding habit
3
: a way of acting or doing that has become fixed by being repeated often
From long habit, Jemmy kept his eyes peeled for treasure. Sid Fleishman, The Whipping Boy
4
: characteristic way of growing
These are trees of spreading habit.

Medical Definition

habit

noun

hab·​it ˈhab-ət How to pronounce habit (audio)
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

habit 1 of 2

noun

1
as in ritual
a usual manner of behaving or doing it was his habit to rise early

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
  • ritual
  • practice
  • way
  • trick
  • tendency
  • routine
  • pattern
  • custom
  • addiction
  • habitude
  • practise
  • fashion
  • second nature
  • inclination
  • wont
  • style
  • proclivity
  • mode
  • trait
  • rut
  • turn
  • use
  • manners
  • bent
  • usage
  • characteristic
  • regimen
  • disposition
  • convention
  • groove
  • regime
  • form
  • bag
  • quirk
  • set
  • rote
  • affectation
  • peculiarity
  • deportment
  • attribute
  • tenor
  • tic
  • drill
  • mores
  • eccentricity
  • pose
  • oddity
  • airs
  • singularity
  • régime
  • kink
  • jog trot
  • mark
2
as in addiction
a physiological need for certain drugs a cocaine habit of long standing

Synonyms & Similar Words

  • addiction
  • dependence
  • dependance
  • monkey
  • tolerance
  • habituation
  • alcoholism
  • jones
  • morphinism
  • heroinism
3
as in shape
the type of body that a person has an imposing man of vigorous habit

Synonyms & Similar Words

  • shape
  • form
  • physique
  • figure
  • frame
  • constitution
  • build
  • structure
  • anatomy
4
as in clothes
archaic covering for the human body dressed in the habit of a knight from the golden age of chivalry

Synonyms & Similar Words

  • clothes
  • clothing
  • attire
  • dress
  • wear
  • garments
  • apparel
  • weeds
  • garb
  • gear
  • toggery
  • livery
  • wardrobe
  • habiliment(s)
  • clobber
  • rags
  • vestiary
  • vesture
  • costume
  • costumery
  • threads
  • rigging
  • guise
  • duds
  • vestments
  • raiment
  • rig
  • outfit
  • togs
  • wearables
  • underwear
  • tailoring
  • tawdry
  • gaudery
  • frock
  • trumpery
  • trim
  • couture
  • finery
  • ensemble
  • gaiety
  • bravery
  • glad rags
  • underclothes
  • regalia
  • gayety
  • caparison
  • getup
  • frippery
  • pretties
  • tatters
  • garderobe
  • sportswear
  • nightclothes
  • array
  • loungewear
  • outerwear
  • sleepwear
  • civvies
  • mufti
  • activewear
  • foofaraw
  • haberdashery
  • civies
  • smallclothes
  • menswear
  • pret-a-porter
  • playwear
  • prêt-à-porter
  • ready-to-wear

habit

2 of 2

verb

as in to dress
to outfit with clothes and especially fine or special clothes his exclusive clothing store had habited the town's upper crust for as long as anyone could remember

Synonyms & Similar Words

  • dress
  • clothe
  • attire
  • costume
  • toilet
  • garb
  • robe
  • garment
  • suit
  • apparel
  • gown
  • vesture
  • wrap
  • array
  • caparison
  • get up
  • dress up
  • drape
  • uniform
  • deck (out)
  • rig (out)
  • invest
  • frock
  • bedeck
  • tog (up or out)
  • enrobe
  • cloak
  • outfit
  • jacket
  • mantle
  • furnish
  • huddle
  • swaddle
  • tailor
  • vest
  • swathe
  • hap
  • equip
  • enswathe
  • dress down
  • do up
  • habilitate
  • accoutre
  • bedight
  • underdress
  • accouter

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

  • strip
  • disarray
  • undress
  • disrobe
  • untruss
  • unclothe
  • divest
  • uncover
  • denude
  • undrape
  • unveil
See More

Synonym Chooser

Some common synonyms of habit are custom, practice, usage, and wont. While all these words mean "a way of acting fixed through repetition," habit implies a doing unconsciously and often compulsively.

had a habit of tapping his fingers

Although the words custom and habit have much in common, 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

In some situations, the words practice and habit are roughly equivalent. However, practice suggests an act or method followed with regularity and usually through choice.

our practice is to honor all major credit cards

While the synonyms usage and habit are close in meaning, 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

The synonyms wont and habit are sometimes interchangeable, but wont usually applies to a habitual manner, method, or practice of an individual or group.

as was her wont, she slept until noon
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更新时间:2024/12/23 19:41:57