habitat

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the type of environment in which an organism or group normally lives or occurs

   The marine habitat needs to be mimicked inside this zoo exhibit.

2. 2
   noun

   Conditions suitable for an organism or population of organisms to live.

   This park offers important amphibian habitat and breeding area.

3. 3
   noun

   A terrestrial or aquatic area distinguished by geographic, abiotic and biotic features, whether entirely natural or semi-natural.

   rights-of-way are usually perceived as disturbance zones that provide a habitat and corridor for non-native species.

4. 4
   noun

   A place in which a person lives.

   this book is just the impetus you need to clear the clutter and reorganize your habitat.

5. 5
   noun

   A range; a place where a species naturally occurs.

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin habitatbor. English habitat From Latin habitat (“it dwells, lives”), the 3rd person singular present active indicative form of habitō (“to live or dwell”). In Linnaeus and similar authors, the geographical ranges of species were customarily denoted in Latin by a sentence beginning with "Habitat", e.g. "Habitat in Europa" ("It lives in Europe"), and it thus became the convention to refer to the geographical range as the "habitat". Compare the English derivations of exit, floruit, ignoramus, and tenet from Latin finite verbs reanalyzed as English nouns.