doing of customary acts in a
regular and uniform sequence and is more mechanical than _custom_. It is
the _custom_ of tradesmen to open at a uniform hour, and to follow a
regular _routine_ of business until closing-time. _Habit_ always
includes an involuntary tendency, natural or acquired, greatly
strengthened by frequent repetition of the act, and may be
uncontrollable, or even unconscious. _Habitude_ is habitual relation or
association. _Custom_ is chiefly used of the action of many; _habit_ of
the action of one; we speak of the _customs_ of society, the _habits_ of
an individual. _Fashion_ is the generally recognized _custom_ in the
smaller matters, especially in dress. A _rule_ is prescribed either by
some external authority or by one's own will; as, it is the _rule_ of
the house; or, I make it my invariable _rule_. _System_ is the
coordination of many acts or things into a unity, and is more and better
than _routine_. _Use_ and _usage_ denote the manner of using something;
we speak of one person's _use_ of language, but of the _usage_ of many;
a _use_ or _usage_ is almost always a _habit_. _Practise_ is the active
doing of something in a systematic way; we do not speak of the
_practise_, but of the _habit_ of going to sleep; we speak of a
tradesman's _custom_, a lawyer's or a physician's _practise_.
Educationally, _practise_ is the voluntary and persistent attempt to
make skill a _habit_; as, _practise_ in penmanship. _Wont_ is blind and
instinctive _habit_ like that which attaches an animal to a locality:
the word is now almost wholly poetic. Compare DRESS.

* * * * *

HAPPEN.

Synonyms:

bechance, chance, fall out, supervene,
befall, come to pass, occur, take place.
betide, fall,

A thing is said to _happen_ when no design is manifest, or none
especially thought of; it is said to _chance_ when it appears to be the
result of accident (compare synonyms for ACCIDENT). An incident
_happens_ or _occurs_; something external or actual _happens_ to one; a
thought or fancy _occurs_ to him. _Befall_ and _betide_ are transitive;
_happen_ is intransitive; something _befalls_ or _betides_ a person or
_happens_ to him. _Betide_ is especially used for anticipated evil,
thought of as waiting and coming at its appointed time; as, wo _betide_
him! One event _supervenes_ upon another event, one disease upon
another, etc. ["Transpire," in the sense of _happen_, is not au