pause English · revision 10591

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1426|origins=frm pause|origins=la pausa|origins=grc παῦσις}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /pɔːz/, US /pɑːz/, /pɔːz/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|pause]] and directly from Latin pausa, a halt, stop,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Greek [[m|grc|παῦσις|tr=paûsis|t=stopping, ceasing]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from paúein, to stop, cease, a word of unknown origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster compares Greek paûla, rest.^(MWU 2024) [[repose]] and [[pose]] go back to the same Latin word.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A short stop or rest, especially in singing or speech: about 1426 in Barnhart, about 1440 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''To give pause'', to cause to hesitate, is first recorded in Shakespeare's Hamlet (1602).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The verb is from 1440, in the Promptorium Parvulorum, partly from the noun and partly from Middle French pauser, Late Latin pausāre;^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline dates it from the 1520s.^(Etymonline) In music, a pause is the sign over a note to be held, and a pause button on an electronic device belongs to recent use.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1426 – a short stop.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1440 – to pause (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1597 – a rest in music (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1602 – to give pause.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A temporary stop or [[rest]] in speech or action.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A hesitation, as from uncertainty: ''to give pause''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(music)'' A sign over a note or rest showing that it is to be held.^(AHD)

+ # A control on an electronic device that stops playback for a time.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To stop an action for a time; to [[hesitate]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To halt the operation of a device for a time: ''to pause the film''.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pausal]]

+ * [[pauseful]]

+ * [[pausefully]]

+ * [[pauseless]]

+ * [[pauselessly]]

+ * [[pauser]]

+ * [[pausingly]]

+ * [[aeropause]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pose]]

+ * [[repose]]

+ * [[menopause]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}