Habit vs. Pattern — What's the Difference?

A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.The American Journal of Psychology (1903) defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, [as] a more or less fixed way of thinking, willing, or feeling acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience." Habitual behavior often goes unnoticed in persons exhibiting it, because a person does not need to engage in self-analysis when undertaking routine tasks. Habits are sometimes compulsory.

A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner.

A settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up

A usually repeating artistic or decorative design

A long, loose garment worn by a member of a religious order

A natural or accidental arrangement or sequence

A person's health or constitution

A plan, diagram, or model to be followed in making things

Be dressed or clothed

A model or original used for imitation or as an archetype.

A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition

A composite of traits or features characteristic of an individual or a group

An established disposition of the mind or character

Form and style in an artistic work or body of artistic works.

Customary manner or practice

The configuration of gunshots upon a target that is used as an indication of skill in shooting.

An addiction, especially to a narcotic drug.

The distribution and spread, around a targeted region, of spent shrapnel, bomb fragments, or shot from a shotgun.

Characteristic appearance, form, or manner of growth, especially of a plant or crystal

Enough material to make a complete garment.

A distinctive set of clothing or style of dressing, especially of a religious order.

A test pattern.

A riding habit.

The flight path of an aircraft about to land

(Archaic) Physical constitution.

(Football) A pass pattern.

To clothe; dress.

To make, mold, or design by following a pattern

To clothe in a habit, especially a nun's habit.

To cover or ornament with a design or pattern.

An action performed on a regular basis.

To make a pattern.

An action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness.

Model, example.

A long piece of clothing worn by monks and nuns.

Something from which a copy is made; a model or outline.

A piece of clothing worn for a specific activity; a uniform.

Someone or something seen as an example to be imitated; an exemplar.

(archaic) Outward appearance; attire; dress.

A copy.

Form of growth or general appearance and structure of a variety or species of plant or crystal.

A sample; of coins, an example which was struck but never minted.

An addiction.

A representative example.

(transitive) To clothe.

(US) The material needed to make a piece of clothing.

To inhabit.

(textiles) The paper or cardboard template from which the parts of a garment are traced onto fabric prior to cutting out and assembling.

The usual condition or state of a person or thing, either natural or acquired, regarded as something had, possessed, and firmly retained; as, a religious habit; his habit is morose; elms have a spreading habit; esp., physical temperament or constitution; as, a full habit of body.

A full-sized model around which a mould of sand is made, to receive the melted metal. It is usually made of wood and in several parts, so as to be removed from the mould without damage.

The general appearance and manner of life of a living organism.

(computing) A text string containing wildcards, used for matching.

Fixed or established custom; ordinary course of conduct; practice; usage; hence, prominently, the involuntary tendency or aptitude to perform certain actions which is acquired by their frequent repetition; as, habit is second nature; also, peculiar ways of acting; characteristic forms of behavior.

A design pattern.

Outward appearance; attire; dress; hence, a garment; esp., a closely fitting garment or dress worn by ladies; as, a riding habit.

Coherent or decorative arrangement.

The distinctive clothing worn commonly by nuns or monks; as, in the late 1900's many orders of nuns discarded their habits and began to dress as ordinary lay women.

A design, motif or decoration, especially formed from regular repeated elements.

To inhabit.

A naturally-occurring or random arrangement of shapes, colours etc. which have a regular or decorative effect.

To dress; to clothe; to array.

The given spread, range etc. of shot fired from a gun.

To accustom; to habituate.

A particular sequence of events, facts etc. which can be understood, used to predict the future, or seen to have a mathematical, geometric, statistical etc. relationship.

An established custom;

(linguistics) An intelligible arrangement in a given area of language.

A pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition;

A sequence of notes, percussion etc. in a tracker module, usable once or many times within the song.

(religion) a distinctive attire (as the costume of a religious order)

To apply a pattern.

Excessive use of drugs

To make or design (anything) by, from, or after, something that serves as a pattern; to copy; to model; to imitate.

Put a habit on

To follow an example.

To fit into a pattern.

(transitive) To serve as an example for.

To observe an animal closely over time in order to discern its habitual movements and behaviours.

(MLE) To arrange, to organise, to fix.

Of or in accordance with a usual pattern, or type; model; ideal.

Anything proposed for imitation; an archetype; an exemplar; that which is to be, or is worthy to be, copied or imitated; as, a pattern of a machine.

A part showing the figure or quality of the whole; a specimen; a sample; an example; an instance.

Stuff sufficient for a garment; as, a dress pattern.

Figure or style of decoration; design; as, wall paper of a beautiful pattern.

Something made after a model; a copy.

Anything cut or formed to serve as a guide to cutting or forming objects; as, a dressmaker's pattern.

A full-sized model around which a mold of sand is made, to receive the melted metal. It is usually made of wood and in several parts, so as to be removed from the mold without injuring it.

A recognizable characteristic relationship or set of relationships between the members of any set of objects or actions, or the properties of the members; also, the set having a definable relationship between its members.

A diagram showing the distribution of the pellets of a shotgun on a vertical target perpendicular to the plane of fire.

The recommended flight path for an airplane to follow as it approaches an airport for a landing. Same as landing pattern.

An image or diagram containing lines, usually horizontal, vertical, and diagonal, sometimes of varying widths, used to test the resolution of an optical instrument or the accuracy of reproduction of image copying or transmission equipment. Same as test pattern.

To make or design (anything) by, from, or after, something that serves as a pattern; to copy; to model; to imitate.

To serve as an example for; also, to parallel.

A perceptual structure;

A customary way of operation or behavior;

A decorative or artistic work;

Something regarded as a normative example;

A model considered worthy of imitation;

Something intended as a guide for making something else;

The path that is prescribed for an airplane that is preparing to land at an airport;

Graphical representation (in polar or cartesian coordinates) of the spatial distribution of radiation from an antenna as a function of angle

Plan or create according to a model or models

Form a pattern;