Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

cease

[sees]
verb (used without object), ceased, ceas·ing.
  1. to stop; discontinue: Not all medieval beliefs have ceased to exist.
  2. to come to an end: At last the war has ceased.
  3. Obsolete. to pass away; die out.
Show More
verb (used with object), ceased, ceas·ing.
  1. to put a stop or end to; discontinue: He begged them to cease their quarreling.
Show More
noun
  1. cessation: The noise of the drilling went on for hours without cease.
Show More

Origin of cease

1250–1300; Middle English ces(s)en < Old French cesser < Latin cessāre to leave off, equivalent to cess(us) (past participle of cēdere to withdraw, go; ced- go + -tus past participle suffix) + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive ending; see cede
Related formsun·ceased, adjective

Synonyms

2. terminate, end, culminate.

Antonyms

1, 2. begin.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

quithaltdiscontinueterminaterefraindesistfailfinishenddiedropculminatestaysurceasecloseintermit

Examples from the Web for ceasing

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The storm, far from ceasing, seemed to have grown yet stronger.

    Master and Man

    Leo Tolstoy

  • The wake became livelier, though not ceasing to preserve appearances.

    L'Assommoir

    Emile Zola

  • Clotilde, herself, ceasing to smile, seemed to listen to him with deference.

    Doctor Pascal

    Emile Zola

  • He came to his senses, and ceasing suddenly, wondered greatly at himself.

    Lord Jim

    Joseph Conrad

  • And so ceasing to speak I watched her stepping out by my side.

    Under Western Eyes

    Joseph Conrad

British Dictionary definitions for ceasing

cease

verb
  1. (when tr, may take a gerund or an infinitive as object) to bring or come to an end; desist from; stop
Show More
noun
  1. without cease without stopping; incessantly
Show More

Word Origin

C14: from Old French cesser, from Latin cessāre, frequentative of cēdere to yield, cede
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ceasing

cease

n.

"cessation, stopping," c.1300, from cease (n.) or else from Old French cesse "cease, cessation," from cesser.

Show More

cease

v.

c.1300, cesen, from Old French cesser "to come to an end, stop, cease; give up, desist," from Latin cessare "to cease, go slow, give over, leave off, be idle," frequentative of cedere (past participle cessus) "go away, withdraw, yield" (see cede). Related: Ceased; ceasing. Old English in this sense had geswican, blinnan.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with ceasing

cease

In addition to the idiom beginning with cease

  • cease and desist

also see:

  • wonders will never cease
Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.