cessation

American  

[se-say-shuhn] / sɛˈseɪ ʃən /

noun

• cessations
  plural

1. a temporary or complete stopping; discontinuance.

   a cessation of hostilities.

   Synonyms:

   recess, stay, suspension, end, halt, stop

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cessation British  

/ sɛˈseɪʃən /

noun

1. a ceasing or stopping; discontinuance; pause

   temporary cessation of hostilities

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cessations
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of cessation

1350–1400; Middle English cessacio ( u ) n < Latin cessātiōn- (stem of cessātiō ) delay, inactivity, stoppage, equivalent to cessāt ( us ) past participle of cessāre to delay, stop ( cess ( us ) yielded, ceded ( ced- cede + -tus past participle suffix) + -ātus -ate ¹ ) + -iōn- -ion

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Explanation

Cessation is an end to something, such as the stopping of a bad habit, like the cessation of smoking. Cessation and cease sound alike and have similar meanings because they both come from the Latin word cessare, which means "to delay, to stop." The cessation can be permanent, such as when the protests resulted in the cessation of the use of baby bunnies to test lipsticks (forever ending the bunny torture); or temporary, such as the cessation of the rain during the storm that let us run to the car without getting wet (but rain, like sunshine, always comes back).

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cessation cessations

“For us here in the region, while we prefer a stalemate over war, we prefer a permanent cessation of hostilities over a stalemate,” the senior Gulf official said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

It comes a day after the US and Iran signed a deal aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East, including a permanent cessation of hostilities in Lebanon.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026

Lebanon's embassy in Washington had hours earlier said Hezbollah had accepted a US proposal for a "mutual cessation of attacks", though there has been no official confirmation by the militant group.

From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, urged all sides "to respect the cessation of hostilities".

From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026

The Buddha said that suffering was caused by desire, we’d learned, and that the cessation of desire meant the cessation of suffering.

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green

Talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations last week had resulted in an agreement to create tentative cessations of fighting along “green” humanitarian corridors to facilitate civilian evacuations.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 6, 2022

During cessations of hostilities in the 1980s and 1990s, standard immunizations reached children in countries including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Lebanon, and Sudan.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 26, 2021

Sleep apnea is a term that’s used broadly to describe cessations of breath during sleep.

From The Verge ● Aug. 30, 2017

But their efforts have brought no lasting truce to Syria, only brief cessations of hostility that have ended, usually, when Syrian troops go on the attack.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 15, 2016

Minor growth-rings result from temporary cessations of growth that occur in the course of the growing season, not at the onset of hibernation.

From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by John M. Legler

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