Cease

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /sis/

Definitions

1. To stop doing something or come to an end
2. To bring an action or process to a halt or conclusion
3. To discontinue or put an end to an activity, condition, or state

Etymology: The verb "cease" arrived in English from Middle French "cesser", which meant "to cease", and the French word traces back to Latin "cessare", a frequentative of "cedere" meaning "to go away" or "to yield". That single Latin root is what makes the English word a close relation of "secede", which keeps the same core idea of going away from something. The Latin original, "cessare", carries a sense of repeated or continued leaving off rather than a single decisive stop. Frequentatives in Latin express repetition or intensity, so the verb built on "cedere" suggests stopping again and again, or stopping steadily. English inherited that sense of ongoing withdrawal, which is why "cease" often describes something coming gradually to an end rather than being halted at once. Middle English borrowed the word in the form "cesen" or "cessen", and the spelling later settled into the modern "cease" with its final silent-looking e representing the long vowel.

Synonyms: stop, discontinue, halt, end, terminate

Antonyms: continue, persist, prolong, extend, proceed