repose
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹɪˈpəʊz/
enpr: rĭ-pōzʹ
ipa: /ɹəˈpoʊz/
ipa: /ɹi-/
rhymes: -əʊz
Forms: form: reposes
Etymology: The verb is derived from Middle English reposen (“to rest”), from Anglo-Norman reposer, reposir, and Middle French reposer, from Old French reposer, repauser (“to become calm; to be peaceful; to rest; to be immobile; to lie or be placed; to cease, stop; to neglect”) (modern French reposer), from Latin repausāre, the present active infinitive of repausō (“(Late Latin) to be at rest; to lie down, rest; to sleep; to calm, pacify; (Latin) to halt temporarily, pause”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again; back, backwards’) + pausō (“to cease, halt; to pause”) (from pausa (“a halt, stop; a pause; an end”), from Ancient Greek παῦσῐς (paûsĭs, “ceasing, stopping”), from παύω (paúō, “to cease; to make to cease, stop; to bring to an end; to hinder”) (further etymology uncertain; possibly from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”)) + -σῐς (-sĭs, suffix forming abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result)).
The noun is derived from Late Middle English repose, from Anglo-Norman repous, repos, and Middle French repos, repose, from Old French repos (“calm; rest; period or state of sleep; state of immobility; state of inaction”) (modern French repos), from reposer, repauser (verb) (see above).
Noun sense 12.3 (“technique of including in a painting an area or areas which are dark, indistinct, or soft in tone”) is borrowed from French repos.
Cognates
Catalan reposar (verb), repòs (noun)
Italian riposare (verb), riposo (noun)
Old Occitan repausar, repauzar (verb), repaus (noun)
Portuguese repousar (verb), repouso (noun)
Spanish reposar (verb), reposo (noun)
Senses: examples: text: So forth ſhe rode vvithout repoſe or reſt, / Searching all lands and each remoteſt part, […]
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 6, page 445:
text: Content thee Cytherea [i.e., Aphrodite] in thy care, / Since thy Æneas vvandring fate is firme, / VVhoſe vvearie lims ſhall ſhortly make repoſe, / In thoſe faire vvalles I promiſt him of yore: […]
ref: 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nash[e], The Tragedie of Dido Queene of Carthage: […], London: […] Widdowe Orwin, for Thomas Woodcocke, […], →OCLC, Act I, signature A3, recto:
text: My fathers Palace, Madam, vvill be proud / To entertaine your preſence, if youle daine / To make repoſe vvithin.
ref: c. 1599 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], The History of Antonio and Mellida. The First Part. […], London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Mathewe Lownes, and Thomas Fisher, […], published 1602, →OCLC, Act I, signature C2, verso:
text: From him that vveareth hyacinth, and beareth the crovvne, euen to him, that is couered vvith rude linen: furie, enuie, tumult, vvauering, and the feare of death, anger perſeuering, and contention, and in time of repoſe in bed, the ſleepe of night changeth his knowledge.
ref: 1610, The Second Tome of the Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Lavrence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Wisdom 15:4–6, page 431:
text: VVhiles vve ſtood here ſecuring your repoſe, / (Euen novv) vve heard a hollovv burſt of bellovving / Like Buls, or rather Lyons, did't not vvake you? / It ſtrooke mine eare moſt terribly.
ref: 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 9, column 1:
text: The Country King his peaceful Realm enjoys: / Cool Grots, and living Lakes, the Flovv'ry Pride / Of Meads, and Streams that thro' the Valley glide; / And ſhady Groves that eaſie Sleep invite, / And after toilſome Days, a ſvveet Repoſe at Night.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 52, lines 660–664:
text: [D]uring the heats of ſummer, he commonly took his repoſe upon a bulk, or indulged himſelf, in freſco, vvith one of the kennel-nymphs, under the portico of St. Martin's church.
ref: 1771, [Tobias Smollett], “To Sir Watkin Phillips, Barᵗ. of Jesus College, Oxon.”, in The Expedition of Humphry Clinker […], volume II, London: […] W. Johnston, […]; and B. Collins, […], →OCLC, page 29:
text: If then it ſhould be aſked from vvhat cauſe this ſtate of repoſe proceeds, or in vvhat manner ſleep thus binds us for ſeveral hours together, I muſt fairly confeſs my ignorance, although it is eaſy to tell vvhat philoſophers ſay upon the ſubject.
ref: 1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of Sleep and Hunger”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], new edition, volume II, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], →OCLC, page 125:
text: The air is damp, and hush'd, and close, / As a sick man's room when he taketh repose / An hour before death; […]
ref: 1830 June, Alfred Tennyson, “Song [A Spirit Haunts]”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, stanza II, page 39:
text: And being, from the emotion he [Ebenezer Scrooge] had undergone, or the fatigues of the day, or his glimpse of the Invisible World, or the dull conversation of the Ghost, or the lateness of the hour, much in need of repose; went straight to bed, without undressing, and fell asleep upon the instant.
ref: 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave I. Marley’s Ghost.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 38:
text: Dark and deserted as it was, the night was full of small noises, song and chatter and rustling, telling of the busy little population who were up and about, plying their trades and vocations through the night till sunshine should fall on them at last and send them off to their well-earned repose.
ref: 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn”, in The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, pages 148–149:
text: You would not rob us of our repose, would you, comrades? You would not have us too tired to carry out our duties?
ref: 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter VI, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC, page 54:
glosses: Temporary cessation from activity to rest and recover, especially in the form of sleep; rest; (countable) an instance of this; a break, a rest; a sleep.
topics: Christianity
glosses: Temporary cessation from activity to rest and recover, especially in the form of sleep; rest; (countable) an instance of this; a break, a rest; a sleep.
Of the Virgin Mary: death; also assumption into heaven.
topics: Christianity
glosses: Temporary cessation from activity to rest and recover, especially in the form of sleep; rest; (countable) an instance of this; a break, a rest; a sleep.
The festival honouring the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, celebrated on August 15.
qualifier: Eastern Orthodoxy
examples: text: [T]he Felicity of this life, conſiſteth not in the repoſe of a mind ſatisfied.
ref: 1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Of the Difference of Manners”, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Of Man), page 47:
text: […] I am diverted from that subject by letters which I have received from several ladies, complaining of a certain sect of professed enemies to the repose of the fair sex, called Oglers.
ref: 1710 March 25 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Richard Steele et al.], “Tuesday, March 14, 1709–10”, in The Tatler, number 145; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume II, London: I. Walker and Co.; […], 1822, →OCLC, page 340:
text: "So may thy lineage find at last repose," / I thus adjur'd him, "as thou solve this knot," / Which now involves my mind.
ref: 1814, Dante Alighieri, “Canto X”, in H[enry] F[rancis] Cary, transl., The Vision; or, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, of Dante Alighieri. […], volume I (Hell), London: […] [J. Barfield] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 41, lines 93–95:
text: The air of wealth and repose diffused about them seemed to comfort their neediness.
ref: 1916 December 29, James Joyce, chapter V, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC, page 288:
synonyms: word: peace of mind
word: calmness
word: calm
word: even-mindedness
word: inner peace
word: peace
word: peace of mind
word: peacefulness
word: phlegm
word: quietness
word: tranquillity
word: equanimity
word: composure
word: repose
word: restfulness
word: roo
word: self-possession
word: serenity
word: stillness
glosses: The state of being peacefully inactive or relaxed, or being free from disturbances or worries; calmness, ease, peace, quietness.
examples: text: But lord! she goes with so blithe a repose, / And comes so shapely about you, / That ere you're aware, with a glance and an air, / She whisks your heart from out you.
ref: 1815, Leigh Hunt, “[Translations, &c.] Song. (To the Air of ‘The De’il Came Fiddling through the Town.’).”, in The Feast of the Poets, […], 2nd edition, London: […] Gale and Fenner, […], →OCLC, page 172:
text: She had the passions of her kind, / She spake some certain truths of you. / Indeed I heard one bitter word / That scarce is fit for you to hear. / Her manners had not that repose / Which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere.
ref: 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “Lady Clara Vere de Vere”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 157:
text: Repose and cheerfulness are the badge of the gentleman,—repose in energy. The Greek battle-pieces are calm; the heroes, in whatever violent actions engaged, retain a serene aspect; as we say of Niagara, that it falls without speed.
ref: 1860, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay IV. Culture.”, in The Conduct of Life, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 138:
text: [T]here is in the Englishman a combination of qualities, a modesty, an independence, a responsibility, a repose, combined with an absence of everything calculated to call a blush into the cheek of a young person, which one would seek in vain among the Nations of the Earth.
ref: 1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “Podsnappery”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC, book the first (The Cup and the Lip), page 101:
glosses: Calmness of the mind or temperament; composure.
examples: text: In repose the faces of the men were intelligent and dignified, those of the women ofttimes prepossessing.
ref: 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 126:
text: He has a handsome face, mind you, in repose.
ref: 1916 December 29, James Joyce, chapter I, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC, page 33:
glosses: Of the face, a muscle, etc.: the state of being relaxed and not in tension.
examples: text: But o'er the tvvilight groves, and dusky caves, / Long-ſounding iſles, and intermingled graves, / Black Melancholy ſits, and round her throvvs / A death-like ſilence, and a dread repose: […]
ref: 1717, Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC, page 425:
text: [H]e arose, / Ethereal, flush'd, and like a throbbing star / Seen mid the sapphire heaven's deep repose; […]
ref: 1819, John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza XXXVI, page 101:
text: Over the whole landscape lay a repose and a peace so perfect that no one could have suspected the close proximity of the capital.
ref: 1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “A Summer Night in a Norwegian Forest”, in H. L. Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 279:
glosses: The state of lying still and unmoving; calmness, tranquillity; (countable) an instance of this.
examples: text: O Sole in whom my thoughts find all repoſe, / My Glorie, my Perfection, glad I ſee / Thy face, […]
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, 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 28–30:
text: I vvho lately ſang / Truth, Hope and Charity, and touch'd vvith avve / The ſolemn chords, and vvith a trembling hand, / Eſcap'd vvith pain from that advent'rous flight, / Novv ſeek repoſe upon an humbler theme; […]
ref: 1785, William Cowper, “Book I. The Sofa.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 1:
text: 'Tis almost / Thirty-four years of nearly ceaseless warfare / With the Turk, or the powers of Italy; / The state had need of some repose.
ref: 1821, Lord Byron, “The Two Foscari, an Historical Tragedy”, in Sardanapalus, a Tragedy; The Two Foscari, a Tragedy; Cain, a Mystery, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 204:
glosses: Relief or respite from something exhausting or unpleasant; (countable) an instance of this.
glosses: Confidence, faith, or trust in something.
examples: text: VVe are to take occaſion as much as poſſibly vve can, […] to find the repoſe of vvhich vve ſpeak, by the Light and by the Shadovv, vvhich naturally accompany ſolid Bodies.
ref: 1695, [Roger de Piles], “Observations on the Art of Painting of Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy”, in C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC, page 162:
topics: architecture
art
arts
glosses: The arrangement of elements of an artwork, a building, etc., that is restful and soothing to a viewer; harmony.
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: The state of leaving something alone or untouched; (countable) an instance of this.
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: Chiefly in the form point of repose, position of repose, etc.: absence of motion; equilibrium; (countable) a position where an object is not moving and at rest.
examples: text: VVhile proudly riding o'er the azure realm / In gallant trim the gilded Veſſel goes; / Youth on the provv, and Pleaſure at the helm; / Regardleſs of the ſvveeping VVhirlvvind's ſvvay, / That, huſh'd in grim repoſe, expects his evening-prey.
ref: 1755–1757 (date written), [Thomas] Gray, “Ode VI. The Bard. Pindaric.”, in The Poems of Mr. Gray. […], York, Yorkshire: […] A[nn] Ward; and sold by J[ames] Dodsley, […]; and J[ohn] Todd, […], published 1775, →OCLC, stanza II.2, page 31:
text: […] Vesuvius was virtually in repose, and the slow changes in the heaped white cloud above the crater were only like those of a thunder cloud.
ref: 1887, John Ruskin, “Cumæ”, in Præterita. Outlines of Scenes and Thoughts Perhaps Worthy of Memory in My Past Life, volume II, Orpington, Kent: George Allen, →OCLC, page 87:
topics: geography
geology
natural-sciences
glosses: Of a natural phenomenon, especially the eruption of a volcano: the state of temporary cessation of activity; dormancy, quiescence.
examples: text: [S]he lay expecting her coming Lover, on a repoſe of rich Embroidery of Gold on blevv Sattin, […]
ref: 1685, A[phra] B[ehn], “Silvia to Octavio”, in Love Letters from a Noble Man to His Sister: Mixt with the History of Their Adventures. The Second Part […], volume II, London: […] Randal Taylor, […], →OCLC, page 245:
glosses: A piece of furniture on which one can rest, especially a couch or sofa.
examples: text: [W]orſt is my Port, / My harbour and my ultimate repoſe, / The end I vvould attain, my final good.
ref: 1671, John Milton, “The Third Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 65, lines 209–210:
glosses: A place of rest.
examples: text: [A]fter the great Lights, there muſt be great Shadovvs, vvhich vve call repoſes: becauſe in reality the Sight vvould be tired, if it vvere attracted by a Continuity of glittering objects. […] Theſe repoſes are made tvvo ſeveral vvays, one of vvhich is Natural, the other Artificial. The Natural is made by an extent of Lights or of Shadovvs; vvhich naturally and neceſſarily follovv ſolid Bodies, or the Maſſes of ſolid Bodies aggroupp'd vvhen the Light ſtrikes upon them. And the Artificial conſiſts in the Bodies of Colours, vvhich the Painter gives to certain things, ſuch as pleaſes him; and compoſes them in ſuch a manner, that they do no injury to the objects vvhich are near them. A Drapery, for example, vvhich is made yellovv or red on ſome certain place, in another place may be brovvn, and vvill be more ſuitable to it, to produce the effect requir'd.
ref: 1695, [Roger de Piles], “Observations on the Art of Painting of Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy”, in C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC, pages 161–162:
qualifier: painting
glosses: The technique of including in a painting an area or areas which are dark, indistinct, or soft in tone so that other areas are more prominent, or so that a viewer can rest they eyes when looking at them; (countable) such an area of a painting.
Derived terms: altar of repose
angle of repose
lie in repose
repose in action
statute of repose