cessatio

Forms

cessātiō f (genitive cessātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cessō (“to hold back, rest”) + -tiō, a noun of action from the verb.^[2][1] That verb is the frequentative of cēdō¹ (“to go, yield”), which de Vaan traces back to Proto-Italic *kesd-e/o- (“to go away, avoid”) and Proto-Indo-European *ḱiesdʰ- (“to drive away, (intransitive) go away”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[3] in whose Poenulus a character says that there is no rest from business; the OLD marks the reading as doubtful.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it meant rest or relief from business, a respite or interval in an activity, and a period of disuse;^[2] more often it meant idleness or inactivity, as when Cicero writes that Epicurus thinks nothing better than doing nothing.^[2][4] Aulus Gellius uses it for a truce in fighting.^[2][4] In law it was neglect of a duty, default.^[2]

Ecclesiastical Latin used cessatio a divinis for the suspension of divine service.^[5] English borrowed it as cessation in the mid-15th century.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus may use it for rest from business.^[3][2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for idleness.^[2][7]
• c. 165 AD – Aulus Gellius uses it for a pause in fighting.^[2][7]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it in law for default in a duty.^[2][7]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as cessation.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Rest, relaxation from business.^[2]
2. A respite or intermission in an activity; a period of disuse.^[2]
3. Idleness, inactivity.^[2][4]
4. (law) Neglect of a duty, default.^[2]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) cessātiō ā dīvīnīs: suspension of divine service.^[5]

Related words

• English cessation

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de