pause

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See also: Pause, pausé, and -pause

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has articles on:
Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French pause, from Latin pausa, from Ancient Greek παῦσις (paûsis). Compare the doublet pausa.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

pause (third-person singular simple present pauses, present participle pausing, simple past and past participle paused)

  1. (intransitive) To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort.
  2. (intransitive) To interrupt an activity and wait.
    When telling the scary story, he paused for effect.
    • c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:
      Tarry, pause a day or two.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book 9”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
      pausing a while thus to herself she mused
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 15, in The China Governess‎[1]:
      She paused and took a defiant breath. ‘If you don't believe me, I can't help it. But I'm not a liar.’ ¶ ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’
    • 2020 April 8, “Network News: COVID-19: Questions and Answers”, in Rail, page 11:
      Will this affect HS2 and other major projects?
      [...] Work at the majority of sites has paused, although some staff may be present to ensure the safety and security of these sites and to make safety assessments. [...]
  3. (intransitive) To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.
  4. (transitive) To halt the play or playback of, temporarily, so that it can be resumed from the same point.
    to pause a song, a video, or a computer game
  5. (intransitive, obsolete) To consider; to reflect.

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

pause (plural pauses)

  1. A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
    Synonyms: hiatus, moratorium, recess; see also Thesaurus:pause
  2. A short time for relaxing and doing something else.
    Synonyms: break, holiday, recess; see also Thesaurus:vacation
  3. Hesitation; suspense; doubt.
    Synonyms: vacillation, wavering
  4. In writing and printing, a mark indicating the place and nature of an arrest of voice in reading; a punctuation mark.
    Teach the pupil to mind the pauses.
  5. A break or paragraph in writing.
    • a. 1705, [John Locke], “[An Essay for the Understanding of St. Paul’s Epistles, […]]”, in A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1707, OCLC 1153704013, page xxiii:
      He [Paul] is full of the Matter he treats and writes with Warmth, which uſually neglects Method, and thoſe Partitions and Pauſes which Men educated in the Schools of Rhetoricians uſually obſerve.
  6. (music) A sign indicating continuance of a note or rest.
  7. Alternative spelling of Pause (“a button that pauses or resumes something”)
  8. (as direct object) take pause: hesitate; give pause: cause to hesitate

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin pausa, from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, “stop”).

Noun[edit]

pause c (singular definite pausen, plural indefinite pauser)

  1. pause

Declension[edit]

Declension of pause
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative pause pausen pauser pauserne
genitive pauses pausens pausers pausernes

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin pausa.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

pause f (plural pauses)

  1. pause, break
  2. (music) rest

Further reading[edit]

Italian[edit]

Noun[edit]

pause f

  1. plural of pausa

Middle French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin pausa.

Noun[edit]

pause f (plural pauses)

  1. pause (brief cessation)

Descendants[edit]

  • → English: pause
  • French: pause

References[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin pausa, from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, “stop”).

Noun[edit]

pause m (definite singular pausen, indefinite plural pauser, definite plural pausene)

  1. a pause, a break (short time for relaxing)

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin pausa, from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, “stop”).

Noun[edit]

pause m (definite singular pausen, indefinite plural pausar, definite plural pausane)

  1. a pause or break (short time for relaxing)

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Portuguese[edit]

Verb[edit]

pause

  1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of pausar
  2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of pausar
  3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of pausar
  4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of pausar

Spanish[edit]

Verb[edit]

pause

  1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of pausar.
  2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of pausar.
  3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of pausar.
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