cease

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.
   • Bible, Deuteronomy xv. 11

     The poor shall never cease out of the land.

Anagrams

• escae