Webster's English Dictionary

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habit

1. hab.it \'hab-*t\ n [ME, fr. OF, fr. L habitus condition, character, fr. 
   habitus, pp. o]f habe-re to have, hold - more at GIVE archaic  1: CLOTHING  
   2a: a costume characteristic of a calling, rank, or function  2b: RIDING 
   HABIT  3: BEARING, CONDUCT  4: bodily appearance or makeup : PHYSIQUE  5: 
   the prevailing disposition or character of a person's thoughts and feeli 
   ngs : mental makeup 6: a usual manner of behavior : CUSTOM  7a: a behavior 
   pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic expos ure that shows 
   itself in regularity or increased facility of performance 7b: an acquired 
   mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely invol untary 8: 
   characteristic mode of growth or occurrence  of a crystal  9: 
   characteristic assemblage of forms at crystallization leading to a usual  
   appearance 10: ADDICTIONM, USE, WONT mean a way of acting that has become 
   fixed through repetition. HABIT implies a doing unconsciously or without 
   premeditation, often compulsively; HABITUDE implies a fixed attitude or 
   usual state of mind; PRACTICE suggests an act or method followed with 
   regularity and usu. through choice; USAGE suggests a customary action so 
   generally followed that it has become a social norm; CUSTOM applies to a 
   practice or usage so steadily associated with an individual or group as to 
   have the force of unwritten law; USE and WONT are rare in speech, and 
   differ in that USE stresses the fact of repeated action, WONT the manner of 
   it SYN syn HABIT, HABITUDE, PRACTICE, USAGE, CUSTOM) 
2. habit vt : CLOTHE, DRESS