habitude

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   formal or historical: a habitual disposition, customary mode of behaviour, or established way of acting

   Long observation revealed the whale's feeding habitudes.

2. 2
   noun

   archaic: the native or essential constitution, character, or temperament of a person or thing

   The physician attributed her endurance to a robust bodily habitude.

3. 3
   noun

   obsolete: a relation, bearing, or mode of existence with respect to something else

   The philosopher discussed each quantity in its habitude to the others.

From Middle English and Middle French habitude, from Latin habitudo, meaning condition, appearance, disposition, or habit, from habere, to have or hold. The English word once ranged from essential constitution to relationship, but now survives mainly as a formal synonym of habit.

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