Habit
Charles Buck Theological Dictionary [1]
A power and ability of doing any thing, acquired by frequent repetition of the same action. It is distinguished from custom. Custom respects the action; habit the actor. By custom we mean a frequent reiteration of the same act; and by habit the effect that custom has on the mind or body. "Man, " as one observes, "is a bundle of habits. There are habits of industry, attention, vigilance, advertency; of a prompt obedience to the judgment occurring, or of yielding to the first impulse of passion; of apprehending, methodizing, reasoning; of vanity, melancholy, fretfulness, suspicion, coveteousness, &c. In a word, there is not a quality or function, either of body or mind, which does not feel the influence of this great law of animated nature." To cure evil habits, we should be as early as we can in our application, principiis obsta; to cross and mortify the inclination by a frequent and obstinate practice of the contrary virtue. To form good habits, we should get our minds well stored with knowledge; associate with the wisest and best men; reflect much on the pleasure good habits are productive of; and, above all, supplicate the Divine Being for direction and assistance. Kaims's Elem. of Crit. ch. 14: vol. 1; Grave's Mor. Phil. vol. 1: p. 143; Paley's Mor. Phil. vol. 1: p. 46; Jortin on Bad Habits, ser. 1. vol. iii; Read in the Active Powere, p. 117; Cogan on the Passions, p. 235.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): ( n.) To accustom; to habituate. [Obs.] Chapman.
(2): ( n.) The general appearance and manner of life of a living organism.
(3): ( n.) Fixed or established custom; ordinary course of conduct; practice; usage; hence, prominently, the involuntary tendency or aptitude to perform certain actions which is acquired by their frequent repetition; as, habit is second nature; also, peculiar ways of acting; characteristic forms of behavior.
(4): ( n.) Outward appearance; attire; dress; hence, a garment; esp., a closely fitting garment or dress worn by ladies; as, a riding habit.
(5): ( n.) To inhabit.
(6): ( n.) To dress; to clothe; to array.
(7): ( n.) The usual condition or state of a person or thing, either natural or acquired, regarded as something had, possessed, and firmly retained; as, a religious habit; his habit is morose; elms have a spreading habit; esp., physical temperament or constitution; as, a full habit of body.
King James Dictionary [3]
HAB'IT, n. L. habitus, from habeo,to have to hold. See Have.
1. Garb dress clothes or garments in general.
The scenes are old, the habits are the same,
We wore last year.
There are among the statues, several of Venus,
in different habits.
2. A coat worn by ladies over other garments. 3. State of any thing implying some continuance or permanence temperament or particular state of a body, formed by nature or induced by extraneous circumstances as a costive or lax habit of body a sanguine habit. 4. A disposition or condition of the mind or body acquired by custom or a frequent repetition of the same act. Habit is that which is held or retained, the effect of custom or frequent repetition. Hence we speak of good habits and bad habits.
Frequent drinking of spirits leads to a habit of intemperance. We should endeavor to correct evil habits by a change of practice. A great point in the education of children, is to prevent the formation of bad habits.
Habit of plants, the general form or appearance, or the conformity of plants of the same kind in structure and growth.
HAB'IT, To dress to clothe to array.
They habited themselves like rural deities.
HAB'IT, To dwell to inhabit.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [4]
See Dress Habit, "a power and ability of doing anything, acquired by frequent repetition of the same action. ‘ Man,' says Dr. Paley, ‘ is a bundle of habits. There are habits of industry, attention, vigilance, advertency; of a prompt obedience to the judgment occurring, or of yielding to the first impulse of passion; of extending our views to the future, or of resting upon the present; of apprehending, methodizing, reasoning; of indolence and dilatoriness; of vanity, self-conceit, melancholy, partiality; of fretfulness, suspicion, captiousness, censoriousness; of pride, ambition, covetousness; of overreaching, intriguing, projecting; in a word, there is not a quality or function, either of body or mind, which does not feel the influence of this great law of animated nature. "If the term attachment seems too good to be applied to habits, let us, if you please, call them ties. Habits, in fact, are ties, chains. We contract them unawares, often without feeling any pleasure in them; but we cannot break them without pain. It costs us something to cease to be what we have always been, to cease doing what we have always done. Life itself, in its least attractive form, the life least deserving of the name, is dear to us from the mere habit of living. The most intimate attachments, and, still more, the most incontestable, duties, have often given way before the power of habit. To have the loins girt about, then, is not merely to distrust our attachments; it is to prevent our habits from striking their roots too deep within. Nothing, therefore, which is habitual should be regarded as trivial. The most invisible ties are not the weakest, and, at all events, their number renders them indestructible. We must remember that a cable is composed of threads. It is impossible to dispense with habits; a life without habits is a life without a rule. But in regard to these, as in regard to everything else; it is necessary to say with the apostle, ‘ All things are lawful unto me, but I will not be brought under the power of any" ‘ (Vinet, Gospel Studies, p. 310). See Fellowes, Body of Theology, 1, 58; Paley, Moral Philosophy, 1, 48; Kames, Elen. of Criticism, ch. 15; Jortin, Sermons, vol. 3; Reid, Active Powers of Man; Muller, On the Christian Doctrine of Sin (see Index).
