Habitable

How to spell habitable

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce habitable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does habitable mean?

1. adjectiveSuitable or good enough for people to live in.

Habitable in a sentence

• The surveyor confirmed that the flat was habitable once the damp had been treated.

• After months of renovation, the old farmhouse was finally habitable.

Where does habitable come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin habitabilis, meaning 'fit to live in', which was built on the verb habitare, 'to dwell' or 'to inhabit'. That verb is itself a frequentative of habere, the broad Latin verb meaning 'to have' or 'to hold', so the underlying idea is of a place one can hold onto and keep living in. English took the word in the 1300s through Old French habitable, keeping both the spelling and the sense of a dwelling place. The same habit- root sits inside the familiar relatives 'inhabit', 'habitat' and 'habitation', which is a useful memory hook: the spelling preserves the bare habit before the -able ending rather than dropping or doubling anything. Note that the single t and the standard -able (not -ible) are the two points where careful writers pause.

How the word is built

• habit- (from Latin habitare: to dwell)
• -able (able to be, suitable for)