1. The area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs: a marine habitat.
2. The place where a person or thing is most likely to be found.
3. A structure that affords a controlled environment for living in extremely inhospitable locations, such as an underwater research laboratory.

[Latin, it dwells, third person sing. present of habitāre, to dwell. See habitable.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.