cohabit
verb
co·hab·it (ˌ)kō-ˈha-bət 
cohabited; cohabiting; cohabits
intransitive verb
1
: to live together as or as if a married couple
They cohabited in a small apartment.
2
a
: to live together or in company
buffaloes cohabiting with crossbred cows 
Biol. Abstracts
Biol. Abstracts b
: to exist together
… two strains in his philosophy … cohabit in each of his major works. Justus Buchler
Justus BuchlerSo riches seemed to provoke their own discomfort, and affluence cohabited with anxiety. Simon Schama
Simon Schama cohabitant
(ˌ)kō-ˈha-bə-tənt
noun cohabitation
(ˌ)kō-ˌha-bə-ˈtā-shən
noun 
Example Sentences
They cohabited in a small apartment in the city.
Recent Examples on the Web Dorothy and Anna traveled as a pair to Italy and elsewhere, later co-founded a clinic for disadvantaged children in London, and would cohabit for the rest of their lives. Patrick Blanchfield, The New Republic, 1 Sep. 2022 Bald eagles are no longer hunted and have adapted to cohabit with humans. Lilly Price, baltimoresun.com, 28 Feb. 2022 Screenwriter Dennis Kelly dramatizes it through the close-quarters friction between a London couple (James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan) who are no longer in love but cohabit for the sake of their school-age child. Armond White, National Review, 3 Sep. 2021 In recent years the number of cohabiting unmarried couples has risen sharply. Vicky Spratt, refinery29.com, 4 May 2020 For all the martial metaphors that politicians on both sides of the Atlantic like to invoke, humanity is not so much at war with the virus as uneasily, unwillingly cohabiting with it, with nowhere more hospitable to escape to. Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 9 May 2020 The Pew data show, for instance, that the chief reason cohabiting partners offer for not being married is a lack of financial readiness. BostonGlobe.com, 21 Nov. 2019 One big difference: Sometimes that means the residents will be cohabiting with other preppers, not just their immediate family. Carolyn Said, SFChronicle.com, 25 Mar. 2020 After two years of cohabiting as friends, Mr. Monahan and Ms. Hamel became romantically involved for a year, then broke up. Joanne Kaufman, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2020 See More
Patrick Blanchfield, The New Republic, 1 Sep. 2022 Bald eagles are no longer hunted and have adapted to cohabit with humans. Lilly Price, baltimoresun.com, 28 Feb. 2022 Screenwriter Dennis Kelly dramatizes it through the close-quarters friction between a London couple (James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan) who are no longer in love but cohabit for the sake of their school-age child. Armond White, National Review, 3 Sep. 2021 In recent years the number of cohabiting unmarried couples has risen sharply. Vicky Spratt, refinery29.com, 4 May 2020 For all the martial metaphors that politicians on both sides of the Atlantic like to invoke, humanity is not so much at war with the virus as uneasily, unwillingly cohabiting with it, with nowhere more hospitable to escape to. Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 9 May 2020 The Pew data show, for instance, that the chief reason cohabiting partners offer for not being married is a lack of financial readiness. BostonGlobe.com, 21 Nov. 2019 One big difference: Sometimes that means the residents will be cohabiting with other preppers, not just their immediate family. Carolyn Said, SFChronicle.com, 25 Mar. 2020 After two years of cohabiting as friends, Mr. Monahan and Ms. Hamel became romantically involved for a year, then broke up. Joanne Kaufman, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Late Latin cohabitare, from Latin co- + habitare to inhabit, from frequentative of habēre to have — more at give
First Known Use
circa 1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Legal Definition
cohabit
intransitive verb
co·hab·it kō-ˈha-bət
: to live together as a married couple or in the manner of a married couple
cohabitants
noun
as in inhabitants
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- inhabitants
- co-residents
- occupants
- residents
- dwellers
- tenants
- denizens
- habitants
- citizens
- coresidents
- natives
- aborigines
- nationals
- migrants
- inhabiters
- émigrés
- colonists
- residers
- newcomers
- settlers
- emigrés
- subjects
- villagers
- burghers
- townsmen
- locals
- localites
- townies
- townees
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- aliens
- foreigners
- visitors
- nonresidents
- guests
- transients
- refugees
- tourists
- emigrants
- expatriates
- evacuees
- exiles
- defectors
- escapers