NYT Dictionary

DWELL

/dwɛl/
NounVerbDWELGrade 6

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

Meaning

A period of time in which a system or component remains in a given state.

Etymology

Origin: Old English

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰwel-der. Proto-Germanic *dwalaz Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *dwaljaną Proto-West Germanic *dwalljan Old English dwellan ▲ Old Norse dveljainflu. Middle English dwellen English dwell 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”).

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

broodconsistliepopulateliveinhabitharpabideberthbide

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 6 recorded puzzles:

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