Inhabitant

One who dwells or resides permanently in a place, or who has a fixed residence, as distinguished from an occasional lodger or visitor.

Noun. In common law, a dweller; one who dwells or who is settled in a place, or who has a fixed abode, as distinguished from an occasional lodger or visitor; the inhabitants of a town, city or state. One who has a settlement in a town, city or parish. In civil law, the conditions or qualifications which constitute a person an inhabitant of a town or parish, so as to subject the town or parish to support him, if a pauper, are defined by the statutes of different governments or states. Also, in the civil law, inhabitant and domicile have been used synonymously, and domicile and residence have been, but are not synonymous in that a residence does not always belong to the inhabitant, i.e., a renter. A resident may, or may not, be domiciled, in that a traveler may take up temporary residence in a motel for any length of time without intent to make it a permanent abode, while a renter may take up a residence intending to make it reasonably permanent. Generally, in the civil law, claiming to have a domicile or residence, or claiming to be a resident, is viewed as an acceptance of the jurisdiction. One is presumed to be a resident of the forum of the contract, and therefore subject to its jurisdiction.