Loiter
/ˈlɔɪ.tər/noun
To stand, wait, or move about slowly without an obvious purpose.
Did you know?In early modern English, “loiter” often carried a moral sting: to loiter was to idle in a way society treated as potentially dangerous, suspicious, or disorderly.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*lūtōjaną
“to bend down, crouch, or stoop”
Old English
OE
lūtian
“to lurk, lie hidden, or crouch”
Middle English
ME
loteren / loiteren
“to lurk about, delay, idle”
14th–15th Century
English
loiter
“to linger idly, hang about without purpose”
Modern English
English
loiter
“to remain in a place without an obvious reason”