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”).

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.

   And with that, his twitching ceased.

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

   And with that, he ceased twitching.

3. (obsolete, intransitive) To be wanting; to fail; to pass away, perish
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Deuteronomy 15:11:

     The poor shall never cease out of the land.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554, lines 159-161:

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

Synonyms

• (to stop): discontinue, hold, terminate; See also Thesaurus:end or Thesaurus:stop
• (to stop doing): arrest; discontinue; See also Thesaurus:desist
• (to be wanting): desert, lack

Derived terms

• cease and desist
• cease-fire
• ceaseless

Related terms

• cessation

Translations

intransitive

• 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)
• Maori: tāhaohao (of rain), mutu, nanape, pārirā (of wind)
• Nahuatl: caua, cacauantoc
• Norman: cêssi
• Northern Ohlone: júwa
• Occitan: cessar
• 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-

transitive

• 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)

• Italian: cessare (it), smettere di (it)
• Japanese: 止める (ja) (とめる, tomeru, やめる, yameru)
• Korean: 그치다 (ko) (geuchida)
• 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)
• Swahili: kuacha (sw)
• Swedish: upphöra med (sv)
• Turkish: durmak (tr), durdurmak (tr)

Noun

cease

1. (obsolete) Cessation; extinction (see without cease).
   • c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iii]:

     the cease of majesty

Anagrams

• escae