cohabit

American  

[koh-hab-it] / koʊˈhæb ɪt /

verb (used without object)

• cohabits,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cohabited,
  past participle,  past
• cohabiting
  present participle

1. to live together as if married, usually without legal or religious sanction.

2. to live together in an intimate relationship.

3. to dwell with another or share the same place, as different species of animals.

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cohabit British  

/ kəʊˈhæbɪt /

verb

1. (intr) to live together as husband and wife, esp without being married

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cohabitant
  noun
• cohabitation
  noun
• cohabitee
  noun
• cohabiter
  noun
• noncohabitation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• cohabiting
  present
• cohabited
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cohabit
  simple
• cohabits
  simple
• have cohabited
  perfect
• has cohabited
  perfect
• am cohabiting
  progressive
• are cohabiting
  progressive
• is cohabiting
  progressive
• have been cohabiting
  perfect progressive
• has been cohabiting
  perfect progressive

Past

• cohabited
  simple
• had cohabited
  perfect
• was cohabiting
  progressive
• were cohabiting
  progressive
• had been cohabiting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cohabit
  simple
• will have cohabited
  perfect
• will be cohabiting
  progressive
• will have been cohabiting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cohabit

1520–30; < Late Latin cohabitāre, equivalent to co- co- + habitāre to have possession, abide (frequentative of habēre to have, own)

Explanation

The verb cohabit means to live together as if you are married. If you and your significant other are thinking of cohabiting, make sure all the chores are shared equally. The definition of the verb cohabit can include two different species living together in the same environment. If you enjoy animal stories, you should read some of the ones about animals cohabiting together. Sure, lots of dogs and cats cohabit the same space as their owners, but there was a dog that became best friends with an elephant and the two cohabited in a rescue park for years.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cohabit cohabits cohabited cohabiting

That in turn drew in wildcats, and, “Natural selection favored those wildcats that were able to cohabit with humans.”

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 3, 2023

You have the right to cohabit with someone who demonstrates the willingness to bathe — for your sake, if not for his own.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2022

“Animals that wouldn’t normally cohabit are actually forced together because there is so little habitat.”

From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2022

France's Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said that "we will not be able to cohabit with mercenaries".

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2022

This meant not only that we were learning, in a real way, how to cohabit as a couple but also that Barack got to know my family in a more intimate way.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Cassie lives in Silicon Valley, where great privilege cohabits with poverty and despair, and works at a start-up that promises her the world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2023

Team Richmond cohabits with another IMT unit, Team Prospect, run by the same nonprofit, the Institute for Community Living.

From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2023

An old woman called Miss Ulyana cohabits with a prosperous old peasant in exile.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 11, 2017

Waddoups ordered "or cohabits with another person" be deleted and narrowed the meaning of "purports to marry" but allowed a ban on multiple marriage licenses.

From US News ● Apr. 11, 2016

Langdon is of the opinion that these dreams are recounted to Enkidu by a woman with whom Enkidu cohabits for six days and seven nights and who weans Enkidu from association with animals.

From An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic by Morris Jastrow

Native Americans more or less cohabited peaceably with the grizzlies, each usually giving the other wide berth, at a mid-19th century ratio of about 10,000 California grizzlies to 130,000 native Americans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

The Athletics are the last of a triumvirate that once cohabited the vast concrete acreage alongside Interstate 880 in Oakland.

From New York Times ● May 15, 2022

When Modi was thirteen, his parents arranged for him to marry a local girl, but they cohabited only briefly, and he did not publicly acknowledge the relationship for many years.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 2, 2019

In a society where female employment options were drastically limited, poor women separated from their husbands or otherwise unable to marry often cohabited with men as a matter of economic necessity.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 5, 2019

He cohabited with her; from them men were born.

From Myth, Ritual and Religion — Volume 1 by Andrew Lang

The report sorted American households into seven distinct family structures: intact married, single parent, blended, unmarried biological or adoptive, cohabiting, extended and other.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

But while they are still the majority, the share of those with joint bank accounts declined to roughly 77% of married, cohabiting couples.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026

"We are just cohabiting, like we're not a couple. We are just parents," she says.

From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026

Data show “nontraditional” families — those made up of single parents, single adults, cohabiting couples and stepfamilies — now outnumber “traditional” nuclear families in the United States.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2024

Desperation, deep poverty, and illiteracy drove women to take the risk of cohabiting with men such as truck drivers and soldiers, those with steady jobs or who wielded the power of intimidation.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French