linger

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈlɪŋɡɚ/ UK /ˈlɪŋɡə/ See IPA manual

Freq #15430

Meanings

1

verb
To stay somewhere longer than expected, often unwilling to leave.

The guests lingered at the door, saying goodbye.
2

verb
To remain present even as it slowly fades.

The smell of fried fish lingered in the kitchen for hours.
3

verb
To keep thinking or dwelling on something for a while.

She lingered over the painful memory.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with linger

linger over Prepositional verb B2

to spend more time than necessary enjoying or considering something

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to stay somewhere longer... loiter tarry

Word family

Forms Lingererlingeredlingeringlingeringlylingers

Derived forms lingererlingeringlingerlylingersomeoutlingeroverlinger

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

linger over
to spend more time than necessary enjoying or considering something

Verb + preposition/particle

Etymology

From Middle English lengeren, frequentative of lengen (“to stay, dwell, tarry”), from Old English lenġan (“to lengthen, delay, extend”), from Proto-West Germanic *langijan, from Proto-Germanic *langijaną (compare West Frisian lingje (“to linger”), Dutch lengen, German längen, Icelandic lengja (“to lengthen”)), related to the root of English long. Equivalent to linge or long + -er (frequentative verb suffix).

lengeren Middle English lenġan Old English *langijan Proto-West Germanic *langijaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# linger

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈlɪŋɡɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈlɪŋɡə/
**Frequency rank:** 15430

## Meanings
1. To stay somewhere longer than expected, often unwilling to leave.
2. To remain present even as it slowly fades.
3. To keep thinking or dwelling on something for a while.

## Examples
- The guests lingered at the door, saying goodbye.
- The smell of fried fish lingered in the kitchen for hours.
- She lingered over the painful memory.

## Derived Forms
- lingerer
- lingering
- lingerly
- lingersome
- outlinger
- overlinger

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: lengeren
- Root: lenġan
- Root: *langijan
- Root: *langijaną

## Etymology
From Middle English lengeren, frequentative of lengen (“to stay, dwell, tarry”), from Old English lenġan (“to lengthen, delay, extend”), from Proto-West Germanic *langijan, from Proto-Germanic *langijaną (compare West Frisian lingje (“to linger”), Dutch lengen, German längen, Icelandic lengja (“to lengthen”)), related to the root of English long. Equivalent to linge or long + -er (frequentative verb suffix).

## AI Etymology
Linger comes from Middle English lengeren, frequentative of lengen (“to stay, dwell, tarry”), from Old English lenġan (“to lengthen, delay, extend”), from Proto-West Germanic *langijan, from Proto-Germanic *langijaną (compare West Frisian lingje (“to linger”), Dutch lengen, German längen, Icelandic lengja (“to lengthen”)), related to the root of English long. Equivalent to linge or long + -er (frequentative verb suffix). In present-day English its meanings include to stay somewhere longer than expected, often unwilling to leave, to remain present even as it slowly fades, and to keep thinking or dwelling on something for a while. The historical chain runs through lengeren (Middle English), lenġan (Old English), *langijan (Proto-West Germanic), and *langijaną (Proto-Germanic).

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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