from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
HABITUAL DRUNKARD. A person given to ebriety or the excessive use of
intoxicating drink, who has lost the power or the will, by frequent
indulgence, to control his appetite for it.
2. By the laws of Pennsylvania an habitual drunkard is put nearly upon
the same footing with a lunatic; he is deprived of his property, and a
committee is appointed by the court to take care of his person and estate.
Act of June 13, 1836, Pamph. p. 589. Vide 6 Watts' Rep. 139; 1 Ashm. R. 71.
3. Habitual drunkenness, by statutory provisions in some of the states,
is a sufficient cause for divorce. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 296.