Hab'it·a·cle (hăb'ĭt*ȧ*k'l) noun [ French habitacle dwelling place, binnacle, Latin habitaculum dwelling place. See Binnacle , Habit , v. ] A dwelling place. Chaucer. Southey. 
Habitacle is an old word for a dwelling, or habitation. The name is sometimes applied in architecture to a niche for a statue.