c. 1300, lenger "reside, dwell," northern England frequentative of lengen "to tarry," from Old English lengan "prolong, lengthen," from Proto-Germanic *langjan "to make long" (source also of Old Frisian lendza, Old High German lengan, Dutch lengen "to lengthen"), from *langaz- "long" (see long (adj.)).

Intransitive sense of "delay going, depart slowly and unwillingly" is from 1520s. Meaning "remain long in sickness, be near death for a time" is from 1530s. It shares verbal duties with long, prolong, lengthen. Related: Lingered; lingerer; lingering.

"remaining long," 1540s, present-participle adjective from linger (v.). Related: Lingeringly.

c. 1400, hoveren, frequentative of hoven "hover, tarry, linger;" see hove (v.1). Related: Hovered; hovering. As a noun from 1510s.

c. 1200, demuren, "to linger, tarry, delay," a sense now obsolete, from variant stem of Old French demorer "delay, retard," from Latin demorari "to linger, loiter, tarry," from de- (see de-) + morari "to delay," from mora "a pause, delay" (see moratorium).

Modern sense of "raise objections, take exception, have scruples" is by 1630s, from a legal sense attested from the 1620s: "admit provisionally the facts of the opponent's proceeding but deny he is entitled to legal relief," a verb from demurrer. Such a pleading effectively stops the action until the point is settled. Related: Demurred; demurring.

1590s, "to speak in a slow, spiritless tone," a native intensive or frequentative formation from draw (v.), or else from Middle Dutch dralen, East Frisian draulen "to linger, delay," which are from the same root. Related: Drawled; drawling.

1530s, "a pause, a delay" (a sense now obsolete); 1540 as legal pleading to the effect that, even conceding the facts to be as alleged by the opponent, he is not entitled to legal relief, from Anglo-French demurrer, Old French demorer "to delay, retard," from Latin demorari "to linger, loiter, tarry," from de- (see de-) + morari "to delay," from mora "a pause, delay" (see moratorium). Transferred sense of "objection raised or exception taken" to anything is by 1590s.

"to cause (time) to pass (without dullness)," 1630s, earlier "to occupy or engage (someone or something) for a period of time" (c. 1600), new formation from while (n.), not considered to be from Middle English hwulen "to have leisure," which is from a Germanic verb form of while (n.) (compare German weilen "to stay, linger"). An association with phrases such as Shakespearean beguile the day, Latin diem decipere, French tromper le temps "has led to the substitution of WILE v by some modern writers" [OED] (see wile (v.)).

early 14c., "to delay, retard" (transitive), of uncertain origin. Some suggest a connection to Latin tardare "to delay," or Old English tergan, tirgan "to vex, irritate, exasperate, provoke," which yielded a Middle English verb identical in form to this one. Intransitive meaning "to linger" is attested from late 14c. Related: Tarried; tarrying; tarrysome.

c. 1300, dalien, "to speak seriously, commune;" late 14c., "to talk intimately, converse politely," possibly from Anglo-French dalier "to amuse oneself," Old French dalier, dailer, which is of uncertain origin. Sense of "waste time" in any manner emerged by late 14c.; that of "to play, sport, frolic; flirt, engage in amorous exchanges" is from mid-15c. Meaning "to linger, loiter, delay (intransitive)" is from 1530s. Related: Dallied; dallying.

late 15c., residen, "to remain at a place," from Old French resider (15c.) and directly from Latin residere "sit down, settle; remain behind, rest, linger; be left," from re- "back, again" (see re-) + sedere "to sit" (from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit"). The meaning "to dwell permanently or for a considerable time" is attested by 1570s. Related: Resided; residing. Also from the French word are Dutch resideren, German residiren.