▪ I. cease, v.
(siːs)
Forms: 4–5 cess-en, cese, 4–6 cesse, 6– cease. Also 4 sesse, ceesse, cece, sees, sesce, 4–5 cees(e, sesse, 4–6 ses(e, 5 sece, cecyn, ceysse, seace, seasse, seece, sees(e, seysse, secyn, sesyn, Sc. ceiss, seiss, 5–6 ceasse, 6 ceace, seas(e, seyse.
[ME. cesse-n, a. F. cesse-r (= Pr. cessar, sessar, Sp. cesar, Pg. cessar, It. cessare): —L. cēssāre to give over, stop, freq. of cēdĕre, cēss-um to yield. Some of the obs. senses and constructions appear to be after L. cēssāre.]
I. Intransitive.
1. a. Of persons and other agents: To stop, give over, discontinue, desist (from, formerly of, an action); to come to the end or to an intermission of a state or condition of ‘being, doing, or suffering’. Formerly, cease off was used, like leave off.
| 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 316 Þe kyng..teld his barons how, þat nede behoued him ses. c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 10 Þat we sesse of all vyces. 138. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 302 Bi þis amortysyng þei wolen nevere cesse. c 1440 York Myst. xxii. 155 Sees of thy sawes, þou Sathanas. 1509 Fisher Wks. i. (1876) 59 He..neuer seaseth tyll it comes vnto the hyest parte of the soule. 1509 Barclay Ship of Fooles (1874) I. 97 Cease of your Foly. 1611 Bible Jonah i. 15 The sea ceased from her raging. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxviii. 165 Are either Enemies, or else they have ceased from being so. 1761 Gray Fatal Sisters 52 Sisters, cease; the work is done. 1832 Tennyson Lotos-eaters 65 Fold our wings, And cease from wanderings. |
b. Const. inf. with to.
| 138. Wyclif Serm. Sel Wks. I. 139 Þei wolen not..ceesse to anoye hem silf in bilding of hye housis. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 232 They seaced not to fyght. 1584 Greene Arbasto i, Cease off to inquire farther in the case. 1702 Pope Sapho 259 I'll..either cease to live, or cease to love! 1876 Green Short Hist. iii. §2. (1882) 120 An excommunicate king had ceased to be a Christian. |
c. with pr. pple. expressing the action, after late L. cessare agens, used in the Vulgate in imitation of the construction of Gr. παύοµαι. This construction coincides in form with 6 b, which see.
† 2. = Cease from action: to rest, take rest, be or remain at rest. Obs. Cf. ceasing vbl. n.
| 1382 Wyclif Joshua xiv. 15 The loond ceesside fro bataylis. 1483 Vulg. abs Terentio 13 b, Thow sesyste no tyme nor takist no hede to thy selfe. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. i. 59 The nycht come, and all thing levand seisst. 1535 Coverdale 2 Esdr. xv. 22 My swerde shal not ceasse ouer them, that shed the innocent bloude. 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 326/2 Matter..will cease if none move it. |
3. Of actions, feelings, phenomena, etc.: To come to an end, be at an end. Formerly often conjugated with the auxiliary be; but some of the examples may be rather pass. of 5, 6, or 7.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6032 Prai for me now, moyses þi lauerd to do þis thoner ses. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 434 But cesyd cause, aie cecith malady. 1413 Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle ii. xli. (1859) 46 Now is al theyr noious labour secyd. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxxiv[v]. 3 O God oure Sauioure..let thine anger ceasse from vs. 1541 Elyot Image Gov. 91. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. i. 67 It must be so; for Miracles are ceast. 1620 tr. Boccaccio's Decameron 77 The modest murmure of the Assistants was ceased. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 418 The tomb of his adversary will cease to be honoured. 1819 Monthly Mag. XLVIII. 30 The noise was ceas'd Of all the angelic ring. 1879 Froude Cæsar xiv. 211 The influx of Germans on the Rhine must cease. |
† 4. = Cease to exist: to come to an end, fail, become extinct, pass away. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxxiv. 25, I shal make for to ceese the werst beestis fro the erthe. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 189 All moral vertu ceseth. 1586 Thynne in Animadv. (1865) Introd. 74 Concerning the high constables of England, which office ceassed and tooke end at the duke of Buckingham. 1611 Bible Deut. xv. 11 The poore shall neuer cease out of the land. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes i. 20 When this Priesthood ceased, the Law..must cease also. |
II. Transitive.
† 5. To put a stop to (the action of others, a state or condition of things), to stop. Obs.
| 1393 Gower Conf. II. 9 Thus was cessed the debate Of love. c 1399 Pol. Poems (1859) II. 6 He myghte oure dedly werre cesse. c 1450 Lonelich Grail xlv. 265 Sese this tempest and this torment That we ben now inne, Lord. 1534 More On the Passion Wks. 1300/2 The Pharisies woulde haue had hym ceace y⊇ voice of the people hymself. 1610 P. Barrough Meth. Physick i. xxxix. (1639) 62 Sapa..doth cease paine much more then sweet wine. 1629 Milton Ode Nativity 45 He, her fears to cease, Sent down the meek-eyed Peace. 1691 E. Taylor tr. Behmen's Threefold Life xviii. 313 A dead man's sence is ceased. |
6. a. To leave off, discontinue (one's own action; formerly also, one's anger or other passions).
| c 1410 Sir Cleges 297 Sese your angrye mode! 1528 Impeach. Wolsey 178 in Furniv. Ballads fr. MSS. I. 357 Seas thyne insaciat covetous mynde. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Pref. 4 a, God of his mercie was willing to ceasse his wrath and vengeaunce. 1604 E. Grimstone Siege of Ostend 199 Whereby he might be constrayned..to cease the dayly alarmes which hee gaue. 1728 Gay Begg. Op. ii, Cease your funning. a 1744 Pope Dying Chr. to Soul v. 5 Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife. 1751 Johnson Rambl. No. 127 ¶6 Others have ceased their curiosity. 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps 3 To cease, for a little while, our endeavours. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 3 May 5/1 He appealed to those present who had ceased their connexion with their Union to again join it. 1899 Ibid. 24 Apr. 3/2 This plan of ceasing the edition, after a certain number. 1907 Ibid. 24 Aug. 2/1 In the United States, where players begin and cease the game years earlier than they do here. |
b. with vbl. n. as obj.
The vbl. n. represents an earlier pr. pple.: see 1 c.
| 1382 Wyclif Ephes. i. 16, I..ceesse not doynge thankyngis [Vulg. non cesso gratias agens] for you. c 1440 Gesta Rom. 34 (Harl. MS.), Þei cessid neuer drinking by þe space of iij. days or iiij. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xciii. 301 Desyre of hym in my name to sease fyghtynge. 1611 Bible Numb. viii. 25 From the age of fiftie yeeres they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof. 1860 Tyndall Glac. 215 Throughout the entire measurement the snow never ceased falling. |
c. Mil. cease fire: see as main entry. d. Campanology. To bring (a peal) to an end; to let (a bell) down.
| 1684 R. Howlett School Recreation 142 For Ceasing a Peal of Bells; Let them fall gradually from a set Peal. 1702 J. D. & C. M. Campanalogia Impr. 13 The learning to Raise and Cease a Bell in Peal. 1852 B. Thackrah Art of Change Ringing 8 The raising and ceasing (or settling) a bell in peal. 1901 H. E. Bulwer Gloss. Techn. Terms Bells 33 Ceasing in order, letting the bells down together, but in regular order of striking, as in ringing ‘rounds’ or some other sequence. |
† 7. To cause (an agent) to leave off (of an action); to appease, bring to rest, quiet. Obs.
| c 1320 Seuyn Sag. 781 (W.) The grehound wolde nowt sessed be. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. C. 391 Sesez childer of her sok, soghe hem so neuer. 1475 Caxton Jason 66 b, Ysiphile..cessed herself of her lamentacions. 1480 ― Chron. Eng. ccxlii. 282 They wold haue done moche harme..nadde the maire..seced hem with fayre wordes. 1526 Tindale Acts xix. 35 When the toune clarcke had ceased the people. a 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus i. 5 Eolus..ceissit swyith the small foulis of their sang. 1575–85 Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 61 The..Lord of our tranquillity hath ceased the waves of the sea. |
▪ II. cease, n.
(siːs)
Also 4 ses, 5 ceasse.
[a. OF. ces, f. cesser: see prec.]
= ceasing, cessation. Obs. exc. in the still occasional without cease, without end, incessantly. (Cf. F. sans cesse.)
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 3188 Of swiche bataile nas no ses To the night fram arnemorwe. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xvi. 64 The other he made to watche without ceasse. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 57 They brought the world into a woonderfull perplexitie and cease. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iii. 15 The cease of Maiestie dies not alone. 1662 R. Mathew Unl. Alch. §99. 163 Which instantly hath caused cease of pain. 1798 Log Vanguard 2 Aug. in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1845) III. 54, 55 minutes past 2, a total cease of firing. 1877 E. Conder Bas. Faith ii. 65 We..think of space as..extending without cease in all directions. 1880 A. Mitchell What is Civilis. 183 It is without cease and everywhere undergoing change. |
▪ III. cease
obs. f. of cess, seize.