habitat

[ hab-i-tat ]
See synonyms for: habitathabitats on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. the natural environment of an organism; the place that is natural for the life and growth of an organism: Orchids have a tropical habitat.

  2. the place where a person or thing is usually found: Paris is a major habitat of artists.

  1. a special environment for living in over an extended period, as an underwater research vessel.

Origin of habitat

1
First recorded in1755–65; from Latin: “it inhabits,” 3rd person singular present indicative of habitāre “to inhabit, dwell, live,” frequentative of habēre “to have, hold”

synonym study For habitat

1. See ecosystem.

Words Nearby habitat

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use habitat in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for habitat

habitat

/ (ˈhæbɪˌtæt) /


noun
  1. the environment in which an animal or plant normally lives or grows

  2. the place in which a person, group, class, etc, is normally found

Origin of habitat

1
C18: from Latin: it inhabits, from habitāre to dwell, from habēre to have

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for habitat

habitat

[ hăbĭ-tăt′ ]


  1. The area or natural environment in which an organism or population normally lives. A habitat is made up of physical factors such as soil, moisture, range of temperature, and availability of light as well as biotic factors such as the availability of food and the presence of predators. A habitat is not necessarily a geographic area-for a parasitic organism it is the body of its host or even a cell within the host's body.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for habitat

habitat

The area or type of environment in which a particular kind of animal or plant usually lives.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.