different between inhabit vs lair

English

Alternative forms

• enhabit (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French enhabiter, from Latin inhabitare (in + habitare).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?hæb?t/
• Hyphenation: in?hab?it
• Rhymes: -æb?t

Verb

inhabit (third-person singular simple present inhabits, present participle inhabiting, simple past and past participle inhabited)

1. (transitive) To live or reside in.
   • 1813, Thomas Moore, The Last Rose of Summer

     O, who would inhabit this bleak world alone?

2. (transitive) To be present in; to occupy.

Synonyms

• (to live or reside in some place): bedwell; See also Thesaurus:reside
• (to be present in some place): occupy

Derived terms

• inhabitable

Related terms

• inhabitant

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /l??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /l???/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Homophone: layer (one pronunciation)

Etymology 1

From Middle English leir, leire, lair, lare, from Old English le?er (“couch, bed”), from Proto-Germanic *legr?, from Proto-Indo-European *leg?-.

Noun

lair (plural lairs)

1. A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground.
2. A shed or shelter for domestic animals.
3. (figuratively) A place inhabited by a criminal or criminals, a superhero or a supervillain; a refuge, retreat, haven or hideaway.
   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula Chapter 21

     ...Van Helsing stood up and said, "Now, my dear friends, we go forth to our terrible enterprise. Are we all armed, as we were on that night when first we visited our enemy's lair. Armed against ghostly as well as carnal attack?"

4. (Britain dialectal) A bed or resting place.
5. (Scotland) A grave; a cemetery plot. [from c. 1420]

Synonyms

• (of an animal): burrow (of some smaller mammals), den (of a lion or tiger), holt (of an otter)
• (of a criminal): den, hide-out

Derived terms

• (grave): lair-stone (“tombstone”)

Translations

Verb

lair (third-person singular simple present lairs, present participle lairing, simple past and past participle laired)

1. (Britain) To rest; to dwell.
2. (Britain) To lay down.
3. (Britain) To bury.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse leir (“clay, mud”). Compare Icelandic leir (“clay”).

Noun

lair (plural lairs)

1. (Scotland) A bog; a mire.

Verb

lair (third-person singular simple present lairs, present participle lairing, simple past and past participle laired)

1. (transitive, Scotland) To mire.
2. (intransitive, Scotland) To become mired.

Etymology 3

Backformation from lairy.

Noun

lair (plural lairs)

1. (Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) A person who dresses in a showy but tasteless manner and behaves in a vulgar and conceited way; a show-off.

References

• Wright, Joseph (1902) The English Dialect Dictionary?^[3], volume 3, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pages 505–506
• “lair” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Anagrams

• aril, lari, liar, lira, rail, rial

Manx

Noun

lair f

1. Alternative form of laair

Scots

Etymology

From Old English l?r (“instruction”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lair/
• Rhymes: -er

Noun

lair (plural lairs)

1. lore
   • "Ower mony a fair-farrant an rare beuk o precious lair" (second line of "The Raven" translated into Scots).