habitus

Forms

habitus m (genitive habitūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from habeō “to have, hold” with the suffix of action nouns -tus.^[2][1][3][4] Isidore says it is named from having, as having knowledge in the mind or clothing on the body.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Lucretius, of the condition of the body.^[2] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a state, condition, of the body, as in Lucretius, and in Cicero of other things and of circumstances.^[2] In Cicero it meant expression, bearing, as ōris habitus “the features”, and in Celsus posture.^[2][7] From Virgil it meant dress, attire proper to a class or occasion.^[2] From the Rhetorica ad Herennium it meant physical character, and in Cicero constitution, build.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant habit, garb, dress, appearance, condition, disposition.^[8] Medieval Latin used it for a mode of life, manners, and life under a monastic rule.^[9] It was borrowed into Italian as abito and Spanish hábito, and Old French habit gave English habit in the early 13th century, first of a religious order's attire.^[1][4]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of bodily condition.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of bearing and build.^[2][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of dress.^[2][6]
• early 13th century – English habit is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. State, condition.^[2]
2. Bearing, demeanour; posture.^[2]
3. Dress, attire.^[2]
4. Character, constitution; build.^[2]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A religious habit.^[8]
6. (Medieval Latin) A way of life.^[9]

Word family

• habitūdō

Related words

• habeō
• English habit
• English habitus

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 l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill