English
cease
Cease comes from Middle French cesser ‘to cease’, from Latin cessō ‘leave off’, and ultimately from cēdō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō‘to leave off, go away’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcessō‘leave off’frequentative of cēdō
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600cesser‘to cease’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cesen
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602cease
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō‘to leave off, go away’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcessō‘leave off’frequentative of cēdō
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600cesser‘to cease’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cesen
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602cease
Earliest quotation: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “the cease of majesty”.
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *kezdō
excessive, successor, succession, successive, procession, inaccessible, recessive, precession, 9 more
through Latin cēdō ‘to leave off, go away’
process, success, necessary, procedure, succeed, accessible, excess, recession, predecessor, precedent, concession, recess, concede, accession, secession, intercession, cede, 29 more
through Latin cessō ‘leave off’
through Middle French cesser ‘to cease’
Today it means
verb To stop.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin cēdō / cease