linger

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

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

   The guests lingered at the door, saying goodbye.

2. 2
   verb

   To remain present even as it slowly fades.

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

3. 3
   verb

   To keep thinking or dwelling on something for a while.

   She lingered over the painful memory.

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).

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