cohabit
[koh-hab-it]
- to live together as if married, usually without legal or religious sanction.
- to live together in an intimate relationship.
- to dwell with another or share the same place, as different species of animals.
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Origin of cohabit
1520–30; < Late Latin cohabitāre, equivalent to co- co- + habitāre to have possession, abide (frequentative of habēre to have, own)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cohabiting
Contemporary Examples
These days, a child born to an unwed mother is much more likely to be part of a cohabiting family.
In 2002 and the years 2006-10, the percentage of children born to cohabiting parents rose from 41 percent to 58 percent.
The numbers below the numbers show that a lot of people are cohabiting, just not marrying.
One study found that cohabiting women are more likely to gain weight.
Furthermore, for those thinking about marriage, or even about improving a cohabiting relationship, abstinence is irrelevant.
Historical Examples
As they are all a part of the universal church, cohabiting in one nation.
A Christian DirectoryBaxter Richard
I have surprised the Girdled Anthidium cohabiting with a Bembex-wasp.
Bramble-bees and OthersJ. Henri Fabre
In Pennsylvania as early as 1677 a white servant was indicted for cohabiting with a Negro.
A Social History of The American NegroBenjamin Brawley
But this does not mean that they are to entirely refrain from cohabiting, in order to keep from having children!
Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex LivingH.W. Long
Nor is any body at all scrupulous about cohabiting with a young woman afterwards, though she has been in this manner abused.
cohabit
- (intr) to live together as husband and wife, esp without being married
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Word Origin
C16: via Late Latin, from Latin co- together + habitāre to live
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for cohabiting
cohabit
v.
euphemism since 1530s to describe a couple living together without benefit of marriage; back-formation from cohabitation. Related: Cohabited; cohabiting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper