habitant
1 Americannoun
noun
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a French settler in Canada or Louisiana, or a descendant of one, especially a farmer.
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Canadian. a Canadian of French speech and culture, especially one residing in the province of Quebec.
noun
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a less common word for inhabitant
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an early French settler in Canada or Louisiana, esp a small farmer
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a descendant of these settlers, esp a farmer
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Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of habitant1
1480–90; < Latin habitant- (stem of habitāns ), present participle of habitāre to inhabit. See habitat, -ant
Origin of habitant2
1780–90; < French, present participle of habiter < Latin habitāre to inhabit
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.
We eat cans of Habitant pea soup, heated up on the two-burner stove in a dented pot, and slices of bread spread with molasses, and hunks of cheese.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
The Habitant de Louisbourg says: "The enemy did not attack us with any regularity, and made no intrenchments to cover themselves."
From A Half-Century of Conflict - Volume II by Parkman, Francis
At present the beach is bare; the five rivers of the valley—the Gasperau, the Cornwallis, the Canard, the Habitant, the Perot—are empty.
From Acadia or, A Month with the Blue Noses by Cozzens, Frederic S.
The Habitant de Louisbourg places the land-force alone at eight or nine thousand men, and Duchambon reports to the minister D'Argenson that he was attacked in all by thirteen thousand.
From A Half-Century of Conflict - Volume II by Parkman, Francis
Later they deeded over for an annual rental of beaver skins the entire fur monopoly to the Habitant Company, made up of the leading people of New France.
From Canada: the Empire of the North Being the Romantic Story of the New Dominion's Growth from Colony to Kingdom by Laut, Agnes C. (Agnes Christina)
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.
