habitancy
(ˈhæbɪtənsɪ)
[f. next: see -ancy.]
1. Residence as an inhabitant; inhabitance.
| 1792 J. Belknap Hist. New-Hampsh. III. 268 The qualifications of a representative are two years' habitancy. 1819 W. S. Rose Lett. I. 131 Hospitals..turning upon some miserable question of habitancy within very confined limits. |
2. Inhabitedness, populousness. rare.
| 1837 Blackw. Mag. XLI. 735 An escape from the close air and crowded habitancy of the streets. |
3. Body or mass of inhabitants collectively.
| 1832–3 De Quincey Tradit. Rabbins Wks. 1860 XIV. 267 Those [persons] do not comprehend the whole habitancy of this well-stocked house. 1862 F. Hall in Jrnl. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 1 Its habitancy may at one time have competed with that of London. |