dwell: [OE] Dwell has changed its meaning remarkably over the centuries. In Old English it meant ‘confuse, lead astray’. It goes back to a Germanic base *dwel-, *dwal-, *dwul-, which also produced Old English dwola ‘error’, Gothic dwals ‘foolish’, and Old High German gitwelan ‘be stunned’, and beyond that to Indo-European *dhwel-, source of Greek tholós ‘dirt’ and Irish dall ‘blind’.
Already by the end of the Old English period, ‘lead astray’ had progressed to ‘hinder, delay’, probably under the influence of the related Old Norse dvelja ‘delay’, and this subsequently developed through ‘linger’ to (in the 13th century) ‘make one’s home in a place’.
dwell (v.)
Old English dwellan "to mislead, deceive," originally "to make a fool of, lead astray," from Proto-Germanic *dwelan "to go or lead astray" (cognates: Old Norse dvöl "delay," dvali "sleep;" Middle Dutch dwellen "to stun, make giddy, perplex;" Old High German twellen "to hinder, delay;" Danish dvale "trance, stupor," dvaelbær "narcotic berry," source of Middle English dwale "nightshade"), from PIE *dhwel-, extended form of root *dheu- (1) "dust, cloud, vapor, smoke" (and related notions of "defective perception or wits").
Related to Old English gedweola "error, heresy, madness." Sense shifted in Middle English through "hinder, delay," to "linger" (c. 1200, as still in phrase to dwell upon), to "make a home" (mid-13c.). Related: Dwelled; dwelt; dwells.
双语例句
1. I shut out the memory which was too painful to dwell on.
我不再去回忆那些痛苦不堪的往事了。
来自柯林斯例句
2. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.
沉湎于虚幻的梦想而忘记现实的生活，是毫无益处的。
来自电影《哈利波特与魔法石》
3. Sometimes his mind would dwell on the horrors he had been through.
有时他会老是想着他所经历过的种种恐怖.
来自《简明英汉词典》
4. It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like.
不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态.
来自《简明英汉词典》
5. A great number of water fowls dwell on the island.
