cease
- 01 C1 Advanced
to stop or come to an end.
to come to an end or eventuate in a state of inactivity. Often used intransitively to describe natural or mechanical processes.
Simple“The rain finally ceased late in the evening, and the stars appeared.”
In context“Hostilities between the two factions ceased only after the international community threatened to impose severe economic sanctions.”
UsageOften used as an intransitive verb where the subject is a process or state.
- 02 C1 Advanced
to stop doing a particular activity.
to discontinue an action or practice. Transitive use often followed by a gerund or a noun phrase.
Simple“The factory will cease production of the old model next month.”
In context“The department was ordered to cease all recruitment activities until the budget for the next fiscal year had been approved.”
UsageCan be followed by a noun, a gerund (-ing), or a 'to' infinitive.
PitfallThe company ceased from making the product. The company ceased making the product.In modern English, 'cease' is followed directly by a gerund or 'to' infinitive, not the preposition 'from'.
Synonyms
“The department store made famous by sitcom Absolutely Fabulous had warned it would cease trading.”
“The FT ’s headline is “Ukraine ceases strikes on oil tankers using Russian port after Vance request”.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.