Etymology
1. O.E.
dwellan "to mislead, deceive," originally "to make a fool of, lead astray," from P.Gmc.
*dwaljanan (cf. O.N.
dvöl "delay,"
dvali "sleep;" M.Du.
dwellen "to stun, make giddy, perplex;" Dan.
dvale "trance, stupor,"
dvaelbær "narcotic berry," source of M.E.
dwale "nightshade"), from PIE
*dhwel-. Related to O.E.
gedweola "error, heresy, madness." Sense shifted in M.E. through "hinder, delay," to "linger" (c.1200, as still in phrase
to dwell upon), to "make a home" (c.1250).
Dwelling "place of residence" is attested from 1340.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *dʰwel-der.
4. Proto-Germanic *dwalaz
5. Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
6. Proto-Germanic *-janą
7. Proto-Germanic *dwaljaną
8. Proto-West Germanic *dwalljan
9. Old English dwellan
10. ▲
11. Old Norse dveljainflu.
12. Middle English dwellen
13. English dwell
14. 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”). See: Middle English '
dwellen', Old English '
dwellan', Proto-Germanic '
*dwaljaną', Proto-Germanic '
*dwelaną'.