cease English · revision 10448

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=fro cesser|origins=la cessare}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /siːs/ ''(UK)''; /sis/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English cesen, cessen, [[bor|fro|cesser|t=to come to an end, stop]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Latin cessāre, to cease, go slowly, be idle, a frequentative of cēdere, to go away, withdraw, yield (see [[cede]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from PIE *ked-, to go, yield.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To stop moving, acting or speaking; to come to an end: about 1300.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To rest (1382) and to cease to exist, die out (1382), are obsolete senses.^(OED 1989) The transitive sense, to put a stop to, now rare, is from the late 14th century (1393).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The noun, cessation, is also from about 1300, now archaic and surviving in ''without cease''.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) ''Ceaseless'' is from 1586, in Marlowe's ''Tamburlaine'', and ''cease-fire'' from 1918.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – to stop.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1393 – to put a stop to.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1586 – ceaseless.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1918 – cease-fire.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To come to an end; to [[stop]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To stop doing something; to desist.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To put an end to; to discontinue.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(archaic)'' Cessation, now in ''without cease''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ceaseless]]

+ * [[unceasing]]

+ * [[unceased]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cessation]]

+ * [[cede]]

+ * [[secede]]

+ * [[incessant]]

+ * [[ceasefire]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}