habitation

noun

hab·​i·​ta·​tion ˌha-bə-ˈtā-shən 

1

: the act of inhabiting : occupancy

not fit for human habitation

2

: a dwelling place

3

: settlement, colony

Synonyms of habitation

• occupancy
• occupation

Examples of habitation in a Sentence

The house was not fit for human habitation.

a wilderness area with few habitations

Recent Examples on the Web

Such defensive settlements became the norm in areas vulnerable to slave-raiding, with individual houses and collective habitations undergoing significant transformations. —Literary Hub, 5 Dec. 2025

Photojournalist Ann Hermes traveled to the offices of the Ipswich Local News (Massachusetts), the Juneau Empire (Alaska), and 50 more newsrooms in between to document the endangered local journalist’s increasingly dim and drafty habitations. —Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 1 Dec. 2025

Or somewhere not meant for human habitation. —CBS News, 14 Nov. 2025

Work at the site to determine a more detailed timeline of dinosaur habitation began in 2011. —Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English habitacioun, from Anglo-French habitaciun, from Latin habitation-, habitatio, from habitare to inhabit, frequentative of habēre

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for habitation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation

Kids Definition

habitation

noun

hab·​i·​ta·​tion ˌhab-ə-ˈtā-shən 

1

: the act of inhabiting : occupancy

2

: a dwelling place : residence

Legal Definition

habitation

noun

hab·​i·​ta·​tion ˌha-bə-ˈtā-shən 

1

a

: the act of occupying or inhabiting

b

in the civil law of Louisiana : the right of a person to dwell in the house of another

2

: a dwelling place