habit

 
Pronunciation: /ˈhabɪt/

noun

  • 1a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up: he has an annoying habit of interrupting me good eating habits [mass noun]: we stayed together out of habit
  • informal an addictive practice, especially one of taking drugs: a cocaine habit
  • Psychology an automatic reaction to a specific situation.
  • [mass noun] general shape or mode of growth, especially of a plant or a mineral: a shrub of spreading habit
  • 2a long, loose garment worn by a member of a religious order: nuns in long brown habits, black veils, and sandals
  • short for riding habit.
  • [mass noun] archaic clothes: in the vile habit of a village slave
  • 3 archaic a person’s health or constitution: a victim to a consumptive habit

verb

(be habited) archaic
  • be dressed or clothed: a boy habited as a serving lad

Phrases

break (or informal kick) the habit

stop engaging in a habitual practice: trying to break the habit increases the compulsion

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French abit, habit, from Latin habitus 'condition, appearance', from habere 'have, consist of'. The term originally meant 'dress, attire', later coming to denote physical or mental constitution