habit

Forms

habit m (plural habits)^[1] Old French abit; the spelling habit is found from the 13th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin habitus (“state, bearing, dress”),^{[5][6][7][1][8]} from habeō (“to have, (reflexive) to be in a state”).^[6][7][2] Littré notes that the passage from “state” to “dress” already belonged to classical Latin, and that the word is a learned form: inherited, the Latin noun, stressed on its first syllable, would have given ⟨hate⟩.^[9]

Cognate with Italian abito, Catalan hàbit and Spanish hábito.^[10][9][11] The word influenced the verb habiller, which has a different origin.^[6][10] Old French habit “dwelling” has a separate source, probably the verb habiter.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace's Brut (1155) uses abit for a monk's habit: Faites roi del moine Costant;^[9][5] Drois oirs est, tolons li l'abit “Make the monk Constant king; he is the rightful heir, let us take his habit from him”.^[9][5]

Semantic evolution

At first the word named only a religious habit, the dress that marks a calling, whence the 13th-century proverb l'habit ne fait pas le moine, translated from Medieval Latin habitus non facit monachum.^[6] Prendre l'habit de religion (about 1350) became prendre l'habit (1676), and quitter l'habit (1690) meant to leave holy orders.^[6][3]

In the singular it came to mean the clothes covering the body (first quarter of the 13th century), and in classical French l'habit still included shoes and headwear; the modern plural les habits is recorded about 1360.^[6][5] With a qualifier, it named the dress of a period or office (1360): habit rouge (1775 in Quebec, 1822 in France) for British soldiers, habit vert (1902) for the members of the Institut de France.^[6] Molière used it in 1666 for a ceremonial coat, and the modern sense “formal evening dress” is recorded in 1845, mostly in en habit.^[6][3] In Quebec it is used for a man's suit and for clothing for an activity (habit de pluie, habit de ski).^[6]

Timeline

• 1155 – Abit “monk's habit” appears in Wace's Brut.^[5][6]
• first quarter of the 13th century – Used for clothing in general, in Courtois d'Arras.^[5][6]
• 13th century – The proverb l'habit ne fait pas le moine is recorded.^[6]
• before 1288 – Adam de la Halle writes en simple abis, of plain clothes.^[5]
• c. 1350 – Prendre l'habit de religion is recorded.^[5][6]
• c. 1360 – The plural habits is used for clothes.^[6]
• 1666 – Molière uses it for a ceremonial coat.^[6][3]
• 1676 – Madame de Sévigné writes prendre l'habit.^[3][6]
• 1680 – Richelet records prise d'habit.^[3][12]
• 1690 – Furetière records quitter l'habit.^[3][6]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records the sense “formal dress coat”.^[3][6]
• 1902 – Habit vert is recorded for the dress of the Académie.^[6][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) A garment, a piece of clothing.^[10][5]
2. (plural) Les habits: clothes: habits du dimanche, one's Sunday best.^[10]
3. The dress proper to a function or occasion: habit vert, the uniform of the members of the Académie française.^[6][5]
4. A tailcoat, formal evening dress: être en habit.^[6][3][1]
5. A religious habit: prendre l'habit, to enter a religious order, prise d'habit.^[6][3]
6. (Quebec) A man's suit.^[6]

Related words

• habitude
• habitus
• avoir

Usage notes

Littré notes that the final t is not linked in ordinary speech, while the plural s is: des habits étroits with /z/.^[9] The proverb l'habit ne fait pas le moine “the habit does not make the monk” warns against judging by appearances.^[6][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 371a
9. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF