Etymologically
Log in

cease

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 06:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
← Previous version Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /siːs/ (UK); /sis/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cesen, cessen, borrowed from Old French cesser (“to come to an end, stop”),[2][3][4] from Latin cessāre, to cease, go slowly, be idle, a frequentative of cēdere, to go away, withdraw, yield (see cede),[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ked-, to go, yield.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To stop moving, acting or speaking; to come to an end: about 1300.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

To rest (1382) and to cease to exist, die out (1382), are obsolete senses.[6] The transitive sense, to put a stop to, now rare, is from the late 14th century (1393).[3][6] The noun, cessation, is also from about 1300, now archaic and surviving in without cease.[3][7] Ceaseless is from 1586, in Marlowe's Tamburlaine, and cease-fire from 1918.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – to stop.[2]
  • 1393 – to put a stop to.[6]
  • 1586 – ceaseless.[2]
  • 1918 – cease-fire.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To come to an end; to stop.
  2. To stop doing something; to desist.
  3. To put an end to; to discontinue.

Noun

  1. (archaic) Cessation, now in without cease.

Word family

  • ceaseless
  • unceasing
  • unceased
  • cessation
  • cede
  • secede
  • incessant
  • ceasefire

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press