habere

Habere is a Latin verb of the second conjugation meaning to have, hold, or possess. It is one of the most common verbs in classical Latin and occurs in a wide range of constructions, including literal possession and figurative senses such as keeping, maintaining, or having in mind. The principal parts are habeō, habēre, habuī, habitum. The present active indicative forms are habeō, habēs, et, habet, habēmus, habētis, habent; the infinitive is habēre; the perfect is habuī.

Habēre is transitive, taking a direct object in the accusative (for example, habeō librum, I have a book). It belongs to the second conjugation, so the tenses in the active voice follow regular -ēb- endings: imperfect habēbam, habēbās, habēbat; future habēbō, habēbis, habēbit; perfect habuī, habuistī, habuit; pluperfect habueram, habuerās, habuerat; future perfect habuerō, habueris, habuerit. The non-finite forms include the present participle habēns (holding) and the supine habitum; the perfect passive participle is habitus.

Usage and legacy: Beyond its literal sense, habēre yields many idiomatic expressions and is a core verb in Latin syntax. The present tense form appears in legal Latin, for example in habeās corpus, meaning “you should have the body.” The verb also has numerous descendants in the Romance languages: Italian avere, French avoir, Spanish haber, Portuguese haver. The related noun habitus, derived from the participle, yields the English word habit and related terms describing manner or state.