habitation
part of speech
noun (habitation — uncountable; a habitation, habitations)
meaning for a pupil
1) (formal) The act of living in a place: «The house was not fit for human habitation.» tree →
2) (formal, literary) A house or home; a place where people live. tree →
sense in the lessons
Used in formal writing, law and older stories. A house «unfit for habitation» is too dangerous or dirty to live in. In history and geography, «signs of habitation» are clues that people once lived somewhere (fire marks, tools, walls). In The Wind in the Willows Badger's home under the Wild Wood was built on the ruins of an old human habitation.
examples
- The old cottage was unfit for human habitation. tree →
- There was no sign of habitation for miles. tree →
- Archaeologists found signs of early habitation in the cave. tree →
- Badger's home was built among the ruins of an ancient city. tree →
- Smoke from a chimney showed a habitation nearby. tree →
- The island has no human habitation. tree →
- He reached the side of Loch-Ness and made his habitation there. tree →
note
Formal: in everyday talk say «home» or «house». Related: inhabit (to live in), inhabitant (a person who lives somewhere), habitat (the natural home of an animal or plant). Habitat is for animals and plants; habitation is for people.
In the corpora
- These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession.
- Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.'
- Thou in Thy love hast led the people that Thou hast redeemed; Thou hast guided them in Thy strength to Thy holy habitation.
- Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.'
- I have surely built Thee a house of habitation, a place for Thee to dwell in for ever.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «habitation» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.