dwell

Meaning

1. A period of time in which a system or component remains in a given state.
2. A brief pause in the motion of part of a mechanism to allow an operation to be completed.
3. A planned delay in a timed control program.
4. In a petrol engine, the period of time the ignition points are closed to let current flow through the ignition coil in between each spark. This is measured as an angle in degrees around the camshaft in the distributor which controls the points, for example in a 4-cylinder engine it might be 55° (spark at 90° intervals, points closed for 55° between each).

live

reside

live at

reside in

be lodged

ive

be housed

bield

in some place

live together

stop by

take up one’s residence

female bird

live in a place

take one’s abode

hangover time

blocking time

be situated

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dwɛl/

From Middle English dwellen (“delay, live, remain, persist”), from Old English dwellan (“to mislead, deceive; be led into error, stray”), from Proto-Germanic *dwaljaną (“to hold up, delay; hesitate”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwelH- (“to whirl, swirl, blur, obfuscate”), which is cognate with Old Norse dvelja and related to Proto-Germanic *dwelaną (“to go astray”), which underwent semantic change in its descendants. Cognates include Danish dvæle (“to linger, dwell”) and Swedish dväljas (“to dwell, reside”).

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