Word: repose Part of Speech: noun 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 etymology 1, 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) Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈpəʊz/, /ɹəˈpoʊz/, /ɹi-/ 1. 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. Labels: uncountable Example: So forth ſhe rode vvithout repoſe or reſt, / Searching all lands and each remoteſt part, […] Example: 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: […] 2. 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. Labels: broadly, uncountable 3. 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. Labels: broadly, countable 4. The state of being peacefully inactive or relaxed, or being free from disturbances or worries; calmness, ease, peace, quietness. Labels: uncountable Example: [T]he Felicity of this life, conſiſteth not in the repoſe of a mind ſatisfied. Example: […] 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. 5. Calmness of the mind or temperament; composure. Labels: uncountable Example: 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. Example: 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. 6. Of the face, a muscle, etc.: the state of being relaxed and not in tension. Labels: uncountable Example: In repose the faces of the men were intelligent and dignified, those of the women ofttimes prepossessing. Example: He has a handsome face, mind you, in repose. 7. The state of lying still and unmoving; calmness, tranquillity; (countable) an instance of this. Labels: uncountable Example: 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: […] Example: [H]e arose, / Ethereal, flush'd, and like a throbbing star / Seen mid the sapphire heaven's deep repose; […] 8. Relief or respite from something exhausting or unpleasant; (countable) an instance of this. Labels: archaic, uncountable Example: O Sole in whom my thoughts find all repoſe, / My Glorie, my Perfection, glad I ſee / Thy face, […] Example: 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; […] 9. Confidence, faith, or trust in something. Labels: archaic, uncountable 10. The arrangement of elements of an artwork, a building, etc., that is restful and soothing to a viewer; harmony. Labels: uncountable Example: 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. 11. The state of leaving something alone or untouched; (countable) an instance of this. Labels: uncountable 12. 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. Labels: uncountable 13. Of a natural phenomenon, especially the eruption of a volcano: the state of temporary cessation of activity; dormancy, quiescence. Labels: uncountable Example: 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. Example: […] 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. 14. A piece of furniture on which one can rest, especially a couch or sofa. Labels: countable, obsolete Example: [S]he lay expecting her coming Lover, on a repoſe of rich Embroidery of Gold on blevv Sattin, […] 15. A place of rest. Labels: countable, obsolete Example: [W]orſt is my Port, / My harbour and my ultimate repoſe, / The end I vvould attain, my final good. 16. 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. Labels: obsolete, uncountable Example: [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.