inhabitant
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inhabitant
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin inhabitant- (stem of inhabitāns ) dwelling in. See inhabit, -ant
Explanation
Someone who usually lives in a specific place — whether it's a mansion, a cave, or a beach house — is its inhabitant. The old man who lives in the scary house down the street is its inhabitant, and the skunk that built a nest under your porch is — unfortunately — an inhabitant of your front yard. The noun inhabitant comes from the verb inhabit, or "to live in," which in turn is rooted in the Latin word inhabitare, "to dwell in or to live in."
Vocabulary lists containing inhabitant
Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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Geography and World Regions
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The First State of Being
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His first book, a collection of Lovecraft-inspired tales called “The Inhabitant of the Lake,” appeared in 1964, when its fledgling author was still in his teens.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 29, 2021
Inhabitant of earth for fortysomething years I once found myself in a peaceful country.
From The New Yorker • Feb. 11, 2019
This is pure cosmic horror, Lovecraftian in its essence, and it brings to mind Campbell’s first published work, “The Inhabitant of the Lake.”
From Washington Post • Oct. 4, 2018
Before Stowe published her novel, Henson had written his own story, “The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself.”
From New York Times • Feb. 24, 2017
I meant it to be quite amiable; like the tremulous badinage of the Oldest Inhabitant in the bar parlour, when he has been guyed by the brighter lads of the village.
From Gilbert Keith Chesterton by Ward, Maisie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
