These words all mean to make one’s home more or less permanently in one place. Reside is the most formal term in the group and is preferred to any of the others when a legal and permanent abode is being emphasized.

• When the policeman stopped me for a traffic offence he asked me where I resided ; A parliamentarian is expected to reside in the electorate that represents.

Reside may also suggest tenancy of an elegant or imposing home; The wealthy broker resides in a town house near the harbour. Live , though close in meaning to reside , is the more general and everyday word when applied to having any established or permanent home, whether one is referring to the actual abode or to the city, country, etc., in which it is located: to live in Auckland; to live in the big red house on the corner; to live in Europe. Live may also mean to maintain a domicile in a specific place for the time being, either temporarily or indefinitely: Queen Elizabeth generally resides in Buckingham Palace, but sometimes lives at Windsor Castle.

Dwell , in the sense of reside or live , is normally limited to poetical or literary usage, especially of the past: to dwell in crystal palaces. In an extended sense, however, it is commonly used of states of mind or of surroundings of a particularly limited nature.

• Schizophrenics dwell in a web of fantasy and hallucination; The philosopher dwells in the realm of ideas; a physician dwells in the world of the sick.

Inhabit carries less of the implication of having a fixed abode than do reside and live . When used in this sense it tends to sound high-flown or archaic. Rather, it points to people or animals living in large areas or adapted to specific physical environments.

• Before the arrival of the white man, Australia was inhabited solely by Aborigines; Fishes and certain mammals, such as the whale and the dolphin, inhabit the ocean.

Inhabit may also lay stress on the using of a place as a home or shelter: a huge old house inhabited by families on unemployment relief; burrows inhabited by rabbits.

Occupy is applicable both to places where people live and to premises given over to business enterprises, and it carries the implication of taking over and holding possession.

• The Lewis family occupies the house next door; The insurance company occupies a 20-story building in the heart of the city.

Settle differs from the foregoing words in that it refers to a town, country, region, etc., in which one has established a permanent home, and not to the home itself.

• They settled in Melbourne last year and like living there; The Germans settled parts of South Australia and usually live on farms and vineyards.