surcease
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to cease from some action; desist.
-
to come to an end.
verb (used with object)
noun
noun
verb
-
to desist from (some action)
-
to cease or cause to cease
Etymology
Origin of surcease
1400–50; sur- 1 + cease; replacing late Middle English sursesen (v.) < Middle French sursis (past participle of surseoir ) < Latin supersessus (past participle of supersedēre to forbear; see supersede), equivalent to super- super- + sed ( ēre ) sit 1 + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > ss
Explanation
Surcease is a fancy word for "ending." If you want a movie to end, you long for its surcease. This word can be used as a noun or verb, but either way it means something is finished. If you surcease working, then you finished your homework for the day. Many people hate when their sleep comes to a surcease in the morning. If a clumsy dentist is causing you pain, you might yell "Surcease! Surcease!" That just means "Stop it!" In life, everything surceases eventually. This is a word you’re likely to see in poetry and other formal writing.
Vocabulary lists containing surcease
Romeo and Juliet
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"The Raven"
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"Macbeth": Act 1 Scene 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Now shall my soul find its calm nevermore In the depths—the blue depths—of your eyes as of yore, Overborne by a perilous flood I shall know Surcease of no sorrow, no lightening of woe!
From Memories of Canada and Scotland — Speeches and Verses by Campbell, John Douglas Sutherland
O favour of full moon in sheen, never may sun o' thee * Surcease to rise from Eastern rim with all-enlightening ray!
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 10 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Calm little figure, ivy-crowned, How long beneath the barren tree Where this pale, martyred god has found Surcease from his long agony, You watch with an untroubled gaze Life move on its accustomed ways!
From Eight Harvard Poets by Cummings, E. Estlin
I go wherever men may dare, I go wherever woman's care And love can live, Wherever strength and skill can bring Surcease to human suffering, Or solace give.
From A Treasury of War Poetry British and American Poems of the World War 1914-1917 by Clarke, George Herbert
Wherefore, my Eblis, it were wise to seek Surcease of grief.
From Lilith The Legend of the First Woman by Collier, Ada Langworthy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
