Inhabit

How to spell inhabit

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce inhabit

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inhabit mean?

1. verbTo live in or occupy a place as a resident.

Inhabit in a sentence

• Otters inhabit the slow rivers along this stretch of the valley.

• Few people choose to inhabit such a remote and windswept island.

Where does inhabit come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb habitare, meaning 'to dwell' or 'to live in a place'. That verb was a frequentative of habere, 'to have' or 'to hold', so the underlying idea is of holding a place continuously, of keeping on having a home there. Latin habitare passed into Old French as habiter, and English adopted it in the late 1300s as 'inhabit', meaning to occupy or live in a region or dwelling. The same habere root sits inside everyday relatives like 'habit' (something you keep on holding to) and 'habitat' (the place a creature dwells), which is a useful reminder that the middle of the word is spelled exactly like the noun 'habit'. The single b and single t are the spelling trap, since the related 'habitable' and 'habitation' share that same lean spelling.

How the word is built

• in- (in)
• habit (from Latin habitare: to dwell, frequentative of habere: to have, hold)