Meaning

verb remain present although waning or gradually dying

verb be about

verb leave slowly and hesitantly

originFrom Middle English lengeren, frequentative of lengen (“to stay, dwell, tarry”), from Old English lenġan (“to lengthen, delay, extend”), from Proto-West Germanic *langijan, from Proto-Germanic *langijaną (compare West Frisian lingje (“to linger”), Dutch lengen, German längen, Icelandic lengja (“to lengthen”)), related to the root of English long. Equivalent to linge or long + -er (frequentative…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0