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Nostalgia vs Linger - What's the difference?

nostalgia | linger |

As a noun nostalgia

is nostalgia.

As a verb linger is

to stay or remain in a place or situation, especially as if unwilling to depart or not easily able to do so.

nostalgia

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A longing for home or familiar surroundings; homesickness.
  • A bittersweet yearning for the things of the past.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
    • , volume=189, issue=10, page=20, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= This is the cutest article , passage= I can't have been the only person, last week, to feel a rush of nostalgia upon learning that Thames Water had removed a bus-sized, 15-tonne lump of food fat ("mixed with wet wipes") from the sewers under London. The fatberg was an August news story redolent of the old-fashioned silly season.}}
  • Reminiscence of the speaker's childhood or younger years.

    • Derived terms

    * nostalgic * nostalgically

    See also

    * halcyon days * hark back * memory lane * reminiscence ----

    linger

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To stay or remain in a place or situation, especially as if unwilling to depart or not easily able to do so.
  • * 1859 , , A Tale of Two Cities , ch. 15:
    • His tone lingered in the air, almost like the tone of a musical instrument.
  • * 1891 , , "Mrs. Manstey's View":
    • She lingered in the window.
  • * 2011 April 25, Alice Park, " Upgrading the Disaster," Time :
    • It takes into account . . . predictions of how long radioactive contaminants will linger in the soil and water near the nuclear facility.
  • To remain alive or existent although still proceeding toward death or extinction; to die gradually.
  • * 1887 , , The Woodlanders , ch. 14:
    • He lingered through the day, and died that evening as the sun went down.
  • * 1904 , , "Asmund and Signy" in The Brown Fairy Book :
    • During his absence the queen fell ill, and after lingering for some time she died.
  • (often followed by on) To consider or contemplate for a period of time; to engage in analytical thinking or discussion.
  • * 2011 April 14, Michael Scherer, " Trump's Political Reality Show: Will the Donald Really Run for President?," Time :
    • Trump doesn't linger on the poll.

    Derived terms

    * lingerer * linger on