habitat

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhæb.ɪ.tæt/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin habitat (“it inhabits”), the third person singular present of habitāre, to live in, dwell (see habitation),^[2][3][4] from habēre, to have.^[5] It was the first word of the Latin descriptions of plants and animals in old natural histories.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The place where a plant or animal naturally lives or grows: 1762, as a technical term in a Latin text on the plants of Great Britain.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, a dwelling place or habitation, is first recorded in 1854, in Lowell.^[2][6] The place where a person or thing is usually found is a later, often humorous, extension.^[7][5]

Timeline

• 1762 – a natural home of a species.^[2][6]
• 1854 – a dwelling place.^[2][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The natural home or environment of a plant or animal.
2. The place where a person or thing is usually found.

Word family

• microhabitat

Related words

• habitable
• habitation
• inhabit
• habit

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin