cesser

English

Etymology

cess +‎ -er

Noun

cesser (plural cessers)

1. (law) termination or cessation.
2. (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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.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, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• Recess, recess, screes

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French cesser, from Old French cesser, borrowed from Latin cessāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ.se/, /se.se/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

cesser

1. to cease; to stop
   • 1992, Amélie Nothomb, Hygiène de l’assassin (fiction):

     Cessez de blasphémer, vile créature ! Apprenez, ignorante, que saint Prétextat était archevêque de Rouen au VI^e 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 6^th century, and a friend of Gregory of Tours, who was a very good man, which you, unsurprisingly, never heard of.

2. 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		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
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: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (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

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of cessō

Middle French

Verb

cesser

1. 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		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
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 IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (cesser, supplement)

Old French

Verb

cesser

1. 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			gerund of avoir + 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	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + 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	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	cesse	—	cessons	cessez	—

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (cesser, supplement)