inveterate

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The Word of the Day for November 10 is: 

inveterate   \in-VET-uh-rut\   adjective
     1 : firmly established by long persistence 
    *2 : confirmed in a habit : habitual 

Example sentence:
     It started with an occasional cigarette in college, but by 
her late twenties, Lilly was an inveterate smoker.

Did you know?
     Like "veteran," "inveterate" ultimately comes from 
Latin "vetus," which means "old," and which led to the Latin 
verb "inveterare" ("to age"). That verb in turn gave rise 
eventually to the adjective "inveteratus," the direct source of 
our adjective "inveterate" (in use since the 14th century). In 
the past, "inveterate" has meant "long-standing" or 
simply "old." For example, one 16th-century writer warned 
of "Those great Flyes which in the springe time of the yeare 
creepe out of inveterate walls." Today, "inveterate" most often 
applies to a habit, attitude, or feeling of such long existence 
that it is practically ineradicable or unalterable.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.