cease

See also: Cease

English

Etymology

From Middle English cesen, cessen, from Middle French cesser (“to cease”), from Latin cessō (“leave off”), frequentative of cēdō (“to leave off, go away”). Compare secede.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siːs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːs

Verb

cease (third-person singular simple present ceases, present participle ceasing, simple past and past participle ceased)

1. (formal, intransitive) To stop.

   Synonyms: discontinue, hold, terminate; see also Thesaurus:end, Thesaurus:stop

   And with that, his twitching ceased.

2. (formal, transitive) To stop doing (something).

   Synonyms: arrest, discontinue; see also Thesaurus:desist

   And with that, he ceased twitching.

3. (obsolete, intransitive) To be wanting; to fail; to pass away, perish.

   Synonyms: desert, lack

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 15:11:

     The poor shall never cease out of the land.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 159-161:

     [...] wherefore ceaſe we then? / Say they who counſel Warr, we are decreed, / Reſerv'd and deſtin'd to Eternal woe;

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXIV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 53:

     ’Twere best at once to sink to peace,
     ⁠Like birds the charming serpent draws,
     ⁠To drop head-foremost in the jaws
     Of vacant darkness and to cease.

Conjugation

Conjugation of cease

infinitive	(to) cease
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	cease	ceased
2nd-person singular	cease, ceasest†	ceased, ceasedst†
3rd-person singular	ceases, ceaseth†	ceased
plural	cease
subjunctive	cease	ceased
imperative	cease	—
participles	ceasing	ceased

^† Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

• cease and desist
• ceasefire
• ceaseless
• ceaser
• unceasable
• unceased
• unceasing
• without cease
• wonders never cease

Related terms

• • cede
  • cessation
  • secede

Translations

intransitive

• Albanian: ndal (sq) , mé (sq)(gheg)
• Bulgarian: спирам (bg) (spiram), преставам (bg) (prestavam), прекратявам (bg) (prekratjavam)
• Catalan: cessar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 停止 (zh) (tíngzhǐ), 停 (zh) (tíng)

• Cornish: hedhi
• Czech: skončit (cs)
• Danish: ophøre (da)
• Esperanto: ĉesi (eo)
• Finnish: loppua (fi), päättyä (fi), lakata (fi)
• French: cesser (fr), s’arrêter (fr)
• German: aufhören (de)
• Gothic: 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (sweiban)
• Hungarian: abbamarad (hu), megszűnik (hu)
• Italian: cessare (it), arrestare (it), smettere (it), interrompere (it)
• Japanese: 止む (ja) (やむ, yamu)
• Korean: 그치다 (ko) (geuchida), 중지하다 (jungjihada)
• Macedonian: престанува impf (prestanuva), престане pf (prestane)
• Malayalam: നിൽക്കുക (ml) (nilkkuka)
• Maori: tāhaohao (of rain), mutu, nanape, pārirā (of wind)
• Nahuatl: caua, cacauantoc
• Norman: cêssi
• Northern Ohlone: júwa
• Occitan: cessar (oc)
• Persian: متوقف شدن (fa)
• Polish: zaprzestać (pl)
• Portuguese: cessar (pt)
• Romanian: înceta (ro), conteni (ro), opri (ro)
• Russian: прекраща́ться (ru) impf (prekraščátʹsja), прекрати́ться (ru) pf (prekratítʹsja)
• Slovak: prestať, zastaviť sa
• Spanish: cesar (es), parar (es), terminar (es)
• Swedish: upphöra (sv)
• Tagalog: (literally) hinto
• Tocharian B: ār-
• Turkish: durmak (tr), bitmek (tr)

transitive

• Arabic: زَالَ (zāla)
• Catalan: cessar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 停止 (zh) (tíngzhǐ)

• Cornish: hedhi
• Czech: přestat (cs), ukončit (cs), skončit (cs), zastavit (cs)
• Danish: ophøre (da)
• Dutch: ophouden (nl)
• Esperanto: ĉesigi
• Finnish: lopettaa (fi), päättää (fi), lakata (fi)
• French: cesser (fr) de + infinitive, arrêter (fr) de + infinitive
• German: aufhören (de), einstellen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌽𐌸𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gananþjan)
• Hebrew: חדל (he) (khadál)
• Hungarian: abbahagy (hu), befejez (hu), beszüntet (hu)
• Ido: cesar (io)
• Ingrian: hylätä
• Italian: cessare (it), smettere di (it)
• Japanese: 止める (ja) (とめる, tomeru, やめる, yameru)
• Korean: 그치다 (ko) (geuchida)
• Malayalam: നിർത്തുക (ml) (niṟttuka)
• Maori: kāti, whakamutu, whakaoti
• Ngazidja Comorian: urantsi
• Norman: cêssi de
• Portuguese: parar (pt)
• Romanian: întrerupe (ro)
• Russian: прекраща́ть (ru) impf (prekraščátʹ), прекрати́ть (ru) pf (prekratítʹ), перестава́ть (ru) impf (perestavátʹ), переста́ть (ru) pf (perestátʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: leig seachad
• Slovak: prestať, zastaviť
• Spanish: dejar de (es), cesar de
• Swahili: kuacha (sw)
• Swedish: upphöra med (sv)
• Turkish: durmak (tr), durdurmak (tr)

Noun

cease

1. (obsolete) Cessation; extinction (see without cease).
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:

     the cease of majesty

Anagrams

• escae

Galician

Verb

cease

1. first/third-person singular imperfect subjunctive of cear