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reside

/rɪˈzaɪd/

Live or stay in a place

From Latin re- (back) + Latin sedere (to sit).

verb
verb
verb
verb
re-
Latin
AI-inferred
rē / re-
Prefix meaning “back, again” or “in the matter of” in later legal usage
Latin
Verified
residere
Literally “sit back” or “remain behind” when combined with sedere

from Old French resider (15c.) and directly

+1 more source
Old French
Verified
resider
Verb carried into French as “to dwell, remain”

from Old French resider (15c.) and directly

+1 more source
Middle English
Verified
residen
Early English form meaning to remain at a place

from Middle English residen

sedere
Latin
AI-inferred
sedēre / sedeō
“To sit”
Latin
Verified
residere
Built with re- to mean “sit back, remain, linger”

from Old French resider (15c.) and directly

+1 more source
Old French
Verified
resider
French continuation of the Latin verb

from Old French resider (15c.) and directly

+1 more source
Middle English
Verified
residen
English adopts the sense “to remain, dwell”

from Middle English residen

Combined
residere
Latin compound of re- + sedere, literally “sit back” or “remain behind”
Old French
Verified
resider
“To dwell, remain”

from Old French resider (15c.) and directly

+1 more source
Middle English
Verified
residen
English borrowing

from Middle English residen

Early Modern English
Verified
reside
Standardized form with the sense “to live permanently or for a time”

from Old French resider (15c.) and directly

+1 more source
Modern English
reside

This one is basically a chair with a passport. Romans built residere out of re- (“back”) and sedere (“to sit”), so the image is not glamorous: sit back, stay put, don’t wander off. That same sitting root shows up in sedentary, session, preside, and even consul, the magistrate who, in the old Roman world, literally had to sit in authority. By the time French writers handed resider to English in the late 1400s, the verb had shed the chair but kept the stillness. Funny thing: every time you say someone “resides” somewhere, you’re echoing a Latin command to park yourself and remain behind.

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