Etymologically
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habitude

Etymology and origin of the French word habitude

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1365, Oresme
Borrowed from
Latin habitudo
Ultimate origin
Latin (habeō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a.bi.tyd/[1]

Forms

habitude f (plural habitudes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin habitūdō (“physical appearance; condition; relation”), from “habitum”, the supine of Latin habeō (“to have; to be in a certain state”).[2][3][4][5][6] The TLFi and the FEW think the modern sense owes something to the verb habituer, and Bloch and Wartburg suggest it passed through scholastic Latin.[2][4] The link with habiter is no longer felt.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Oresme introduced it: in his Traictié des monnoies (1365) it means “relation, connection”, and in his translation of Aristotle's Ethics (1370–72) the general disposition of the body, habitude de corps.[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

These senses lasted into the 17th century and are now archaic, though l'habitude du corps “bodily constitution” is still in Molière.[3][5] In the second half of the 15th century it came to mean regular dealings with someone, and the plural habitudes “acquaintances” was common in classical French.[3][2] The modern sense, a disposition acquired by repetition, dates from 1580, under the influence of habituer, par habitude is from 1694 and d'habitude from 1845.[3][2] The phrase avoir l'habitude de, usual from the 17th century, replaced the old verb Old French soloir “to be accustomed”, from Latin soleō, whose disappearance La Bruyère noted.[2][4][3]

Timeline

  • 1365 – “Relation”, Oresme.[2]
  • 1370–72 – “Bodily constitution”, Oresme.[2]
  • Second half of the 15th century – “Regular dealings with someone”.[2]
  • 1580 – The modern sense, a disposition acquired by repetition.[2]
  • 1694 – Par habitude.[3]
  • 1845 – D'habitude.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A habit, custom: une bonne, une mauvaise habitude, prendre l'habitude de.[7][1]
  2. Avoir l'habitude de: to be used to; to be in the habit of.[8][2]
  3. Familiarity, practice, acquired skill: l'habitude de la conduite.[8]
  4. D'habitude: usually, comme d'habitude, as usual, par habitude, out of habit.[3][9]
  5. (dated) Constitution, build: l'habitude du corps.[7][5]

Word family

  • habitudinaire
  • inhabitude
  • habituer
  • habituel
  • habitus
  • Latin habitūdō

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 370b
  7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Habitude.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/habitude. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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