habitat English · revision 10691

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1762|origins=la habitat}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈhæb.ɪ.tæt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|habitat|t=it inhabits]], the third person singular present of habitāre, to live in, dwell (see [[habitation]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from habēre, to have.^(Collins 2023) It was the first word of the Latin descriptions of plants and animals in old natural histories.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The general sense, a dwelling place or habitation, is first recorded in 1854, in Lowell.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The place where a person or thing is usually found is a later, often humorous, extension.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1762 – a natural home of a species.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1854 – a dwelling place.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The natural home or [[environment]] of a plant or animal.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The place where a person or thing is usually found.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[microhabitat]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[habitable]]

+ * [[habitation]]

+ * [[inhabit]]

+ * [[habit]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}