cesser
English
Etymology
cess + -er
Noun
cesser (plural cessers)
- (law) termination or cessation.
- (law) A neglect of a tenant to perform services, or make payment, for two years.
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for cesser in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)
Anagrams
- Recess, recess, screes
French
Etymology
From Middle French cesser, from Old French cesser, borrowed from Latin cessāre, present active infinitive of cessō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɛ.se/, /se.se/
audio (file)
Verb
cesser
- to cease; to stop
- 1992, Nothomb, Amélie, Hygiène de l’assassin [The Assassin’s Hygiene] (fiction):
- Cessez de blasphémer, vile créature ! Apprenez, ignorante, que saint Prétextat était archevêque de Rouen au VIe siècle, et grand ami de Grégoire de Tours, qui était un homme très bien, dont vous n’avez naturellement jamais entendu parler.
- Stop blaspheming, you vile creature! You’d better learn, ignorant woman, that Saint Praetextatus was Archbishop of Rouen in the 6th century, and a friend of Gregory of Tours, who was a very good man, which you, unsurprisingly, never heard of.
-
- to break up (e.g. a relationship)
Usage notes
- In formal written French, cesser can be negated solely by the particle ne, without the need for pas.
Conjugation
Conjugation of cesser (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | cesser | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | cessant /sɛ.sɑ̃/ or /se.sɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | cessé /sɛ.se/ or /se.se/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | cesse /sɛs/ | cesses /sɛs/ | cesse /sɛs/ | cessons /sɛ.sɔ̃/ or /se.sɔ̃/ | cessez /sɛ.se/ or /se.se/ | cessent /sɛs/ |
| imperfect | cessais /sɛ.sɛ/ or /se.sɛ/ | cessais /sɛ.sɛ/ or /se.sɛ/ | cessait /sɛ.sɛ/ or /se.sɛ/ | cessions /sɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /se.sjɔ̃/ | cessiez /sɛ.sje/ or /se.sje/ | cessaient /sɛ.sɛ/ or /se.sɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | cessai /sɛ.se/ or /se.se/ | cessas /sɛ.sa/ or /se.sa/ | cessa /sɛ.sa/ or /se.sa/ | cessâmes /sɛ.sam/ or /se.sam/ | cessâtes /sɛ.sat/ or /se.sat/ | cessèrent /sɛ.sɛʁ/ or /se.sɛʁ/ | |
| future | cesserai /sɛ.sʁe/ or /se.sʁe/ | cesseras /sɛ.sʁa/ or /se.sʁa/ | cessera /sɛ.sʁa/ or /se.sʁa/ | cesserons /sɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /se.sʁɔ̃/ | cesserez /sɛ.sʁe/ or /se.sʁe/ | cesseront /sɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /se.sʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | cesserais /sɛ.sʁɛ/ or /se.sʁɛ/ | cesserais /sɛ.sʁɛ/ or /se.sʁɛ/ | cesserait /sɛ.sʁɛ/ or /se.sʁɛ/ | cesserions /sɛ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /se.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ | cesseriez /sɛ.sə.ʁje/ or /se.sə.ʁje/ | cesseraient /sɛ.sʁɛ/ or /se.sʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | cesse /sɛs/ | cesses /sɛs/ | cesse /sɛs/ | cessions /sɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /se.sjɔ̃/ | cessiez /sɛ.sje/ or /se.sje/ | cessent /sɛs/ |
| imperfect2 | cessasse /sɛ.sas/ or /se.sas/ | cessasses /sɛ.sas/ or /se.sas/ | cessât /sɛ.sa/ or /se.sa/ | cessassions /sɛ.sa.sjɔ̃/ or /se.sa.sjɔ̃/ | cessassiez /sɛ.sa.sje/ or /se.sa.sje/ | cessassent /sɛ.sas/ or /se.sas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | cesse /sɛs/ | — | cessons /sɛ.sɔ̃/ or /se.sɔ̃/ | cessez /sɛ.se/ or /se.se/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Related terms
- cessant
- cesse
- cessez-le-feu
- sans cesse
Further reading
- “cesser”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin
Verb
cesser
- first-person singular present passive subjunctive of cessō
Middle French
Verb
cesser
- to cease; to stop
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of cesser
| infinitive | simple | cesser | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | cessant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | cessé | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | cesse | cesses | cesse | cessons | cessez | cessent |
| imperfect | cessois, cessoys | cessois, cessoys | cessoit, cessoyt | cessions, cessyons | cessiez, cessyez | cessoient, cessoyent | |
| past historic | cessa | cessas | cessa | cessasmes | cessastes | cesserent | |
| future | cesserai, cesseray | cesseras | cessera | cesserons | cesserez | cesseront | |
| conditional | cesserois, cesseroys | cesserois, cesseroys | cesseroit, cesseroyt | cesserions, cesseryons | cesseriez, cesseryez | cesseroient, cesseroyent | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que ie (i’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ilz, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | cesse | cesses | cesse | cessons | cessez | cessent |
| imperfect | cessasse | cessasses | cessast | cessassions | cessassiez | cessassent | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | cesse | — | cessons | cessez | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679. | |||||||
| 2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180). | |||||||
References
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (cesser, supplement)
Old French
Verb
cesser
- to cease; to stop
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ss, *-sss, *-sst are modified to s, s, st. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
Conjugation of cesser (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | cesser | avoir cessé | |||||
| gerund | en cessant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | cessant | ||||||
| past participle | cessé | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses | present | ces | cesses | cesse | cessons | cessez | cessent |
| imperfect | cessoie, cesseie, cessoe, cesseve | cessoies, cesseies, cessoes, cesseves | cessoit, cesseit, cessot, cesseve | cessiiens, cessiens | cessiiez, cessiez | cessoient, cesseient, cessoent, cessevent | |
| preterite | cessai | cessas | cessa | cessames | cessastes | cesserent | |
| future | cesserai | cesseras | cessera | cesserons | cesseroiz, cessereiz, cesserez | cesseront | |
| conditional | cesseroie, cessereie | cesseroies, cessereies | cesseroit, cessereit | cesseriiens, cesseriens | cesseriiez, cesseriez | cesseroient, cessereient | |
| compound tenses | present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
| simple tenses | present | ces | ces | cest | cessons | cessez | cessent |
| imperfect | cessasse | cessasses | cessast | cessissons, cessissiens | cessissoiz, cessissez, cessissiez | cessassent | |
| compound tenses | past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
| — | cesse | — | cessons | cessez | — | ||
References
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (cesser, supplement)