English Reference
verb

reside

v.
US /ɹiˈzaɪd/ re·side UK spelling resided, resides, residing

  1. 01 C1 Advanced Formal

    to live in a specific place for a long time.

    to dwell permanently or for a considerable period; to have one's settled or legal abode in a particular location.

    Simple

    The family has resided in this small village for over thirty years.

    In context

    Under the terms of the visa, the applicant must reside within the country for at least six months of the calendar year to maintain permanent residency status.

    Usage

    Intransitive; almost always followed by the preposition 'in' or 'at'.

  2. 02 C1 Advanced FormalAcademic Law

    for a power, right, or quality to belong to someone or something.

    to be present as an inherent quality or to be vested in a person or body, such as authority or legal power.

    Simple

    The power to change the law resides in the parliament.

    In context

    The ultimate authority to approve the budget resides in the board of directors, though the initial drafting is handled by the finance committee.

    Usage

    Usually takes the preposition 'in'.

    inherevestlie
  3. 03 C2 Proficiency Technical Computing

    to be kept or located in a specific part of a computer or system.

    to be permanently or semi-permanently stored in a particular location within a computer's memory or storage system.

    Simple

    The main program files reside on the local hard drive.

    In context

    The operating system kernel resides in a protected area of the memory to prevent accidental corruption by user-level applications.

This is so that Spain can make sure they’re not letting criminals come and reside in the country.

The Local· 12 Aug 2026

What's new is that, until now, we've started with the assumption that supermassive black holes reside in the centers of massive galaxies," said study co-author Suvi Gezari, an associate professor of astronomy at UMD.

ScienceDaily· 6 Aug 2026

From Middle English residen, from Old French resider, from Latin resideō (“remain behind, reside, dwell”), from re- (“back”) + sedeō (“sit”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Latin resideō
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Frequent
Updated