Cease Meaning
/sis/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo stop.
verbTo stop doing (something).
Sentence Examples
You will soon cease to think of her.
Spread the table, and contention will cease.
Welfare payments cease as soon as an individual starts a job.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The loud construction noise did not ____ until late in the evening.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The government ordered the factory to ____ its production of smoke.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English cesen, cessen, from Middle French cesser (“to cease”), from Latin cessō (“leave off”), frequentative of cēdō (“to leave off, go away”). Compare secede.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The poor shall never cease out of the land."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 15:11:
"[...] wherefore ceaſe we then? / Say they who counſel Warr, we are decreed, / Reſerv'd and deſtin'd to Eternal woe;"
— 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 159-161:
"’Twere best at once to sink to peace,
Like birds the charming serpent draws,
To drop head-foremost in the jaws
Of vacant darkness and to cease."
— 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXIV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 53:
"the cease of majesty"
— c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The loud construction noise did not ____ until late in the evening.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The government ordered the factory to ____ its production of smoke.