Firmly established; habitual.[From Middle English, from Latin inveteratus, past participle of inveterare (to grow old), in-, + vetus, stem of veter- (old). Ultimately from Indo-European root wet- (year) that is also the source of such words as veteran, veal (in the sense of yearling), and veterinary (relating to the beasts of burden, perhaps alluding to old cattle).]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=inveterate
"Men met each other with erected look,
The steps were higher that they took;
Friends to congratulate their friends made haste,
And long inveterate foes saluted as they pass'd."
John Dryden; Threnodia Augustalis; 1685.
Permalink:
http://wordsmith.org/words/inveterate.html