rest

Pronunciation

• IPA: /rest/^[1]

rest¹ repose

Etymology

Repose is inherited from Middle English reste, inherited from Old English ræst (“rest; bed; resting place”) (also rest),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *rastō,^[3][2] a word of uncertain origin.^[2] Its cognates include Old Saxon resta (“resting place, grave”), Dutch rust and German Rast;^[2][3][4] Old High German rasta also meant a league, and rǫst and Gothic rasta meant a mile,^[5][4][6] which suggests, according to the COED and Etymonline, an original sense “distance after which one rests”.^[7][2][8] The verb is inherited from Middle English resten, from ræstan.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Old English ræste meant a bed or couch, about 725 in Beowulf and before 900 in the OED;^[3][9] sleep or repose from about 825.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Relief from labour or exertion is from about 888,^[9] and the repose of death from the 14th century.^[5] Go to one's rest, “go to bed for the night”, is from about 900.^[9] In music a rest is a silence of set length, from the 16th century.^[5] From the verb, a support or prop is a rest from the 16th century, first for a firearm.^[5] The verb meant “to take repose, lie in death, cease from motion” and “to lie as upon a support” in Old English.^[2][4] In law, rest meaning “to end the presentation of evidence” is a later use.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English ræste, a bed (Beowulf).^[3]
• c. 825 – sleep, repose.^[9]
• c. 888 – a pause from labour.^[9]
• before 1121 – Middle English reste.^[3]
• 14th century – the repose of death.^[5]
• 16th century – a musical rest; a support.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An end of work or activity; repose or sleep.
2. Peace or freedom from disturbance.
3. The repose of death.
4. Absence of motion.
5. (music) A silence of a set length, or the sign marking it.
6. A support or prop.

Verb

1. To stop work or activity; to lie down or sleep.
2. To be still, quiet or at peace.
3. To lie, lean or be supported on something; to depend.
4. To give rest to; to place for support.
5. (law) To end the presentation of evidence in a case.

Word family

• restful
• restless
• rester
• rest home
• restroom

rest² remainder

Etymology

The remainder is inherited from Middle English rest, borrowed from Middle French reste (“remnant”),^[2][4][6] from rester (“to remain”),^[2][11] from Latin restāre (“to stand back, be left over”),^[2][12][6] formed from re- (“back”) and stāre (“to stand”).^[2][12] Etymonline notes that the verb rest, “to remain”, has been largely confused and partly merged with the Germanic rest.^[2] It is related to arrest and restive.^[11][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which remains over, a remainder: about 1420^[9] or the early 15th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A balance of money still due is recorded from 1474, chiefly in Scotland.^[9] The rest, the remaining part of something, is from 1530, and the remaining persons or things from 1535.^[9][2] The verb “to remain, continue to be”, as in rest assured, is from the late 15th century.^[2][4] The reserve fund of a bank, especially the Bank of England, is its rest from 1844.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1420 – a remainder.^[9]
• 1474 – a balance due (Scotland).^[9]
• late 15th century – verb, to remain (rest assured).^[2]
• 1530 – the rest, the remaining part.^[9]
• 1844 – a bank's reserve fund.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The part left over; the remainder.
2. Those remaining; the others.

Verb

1. To remain or continue to be: rest assured.

Related words

• arrest
• restive
• remain
• stand

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary compares rest with relaxation, repose, leisure, ease and comfort, of which rest is the least specific.^[10] A third rest, the support for a couched lance on medieval armour, is short for arrest.^[4][6][11]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin