repose
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: Christianity
architecture
art
arts
chemistry
engineering
geography
geology
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
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)
Inflected forms:
form: reposes
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: reposing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: reposed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: reposed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: repose
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: repose
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: reposed
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: repose
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: reposest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: reposed
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: reposedst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: reposes
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: reposeth
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: reposed
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: repose
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: reposed
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: repose
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: reposed
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: repose
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: reposing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: reposed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: reposes
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To lay (someone, or part of their body) down to rest.
pos: verb
tags: also
archaic
figuratively
transitive
examples: The Sea-god Glaucus […] Repoſd his head vpon my faintfull knée: […]
I could mock the ſultry Toil, / VVhen on my Charmer's Breaſt repos'd.
VVha's ain dear laſs, that he likes beſt, / Comes clinkin dovvn beſide him! / VVi' arm repos'd on the chair-back, / He ſvveetly does compoſe him; […]
A hundred times hast thou said, when, wearied with thy labours and oppressed by thy troubles, thou reposedst thy head familiarly on my breast, 'Would that I could die in this bosom!'
[T]he eyes clos'd— / The lashes on the cheeks repos'd.
Mrs. Peters reposed her 200 pounds on the safer of the two chairs and gazed stolidly out the one window at the brick wall opposite.
gloss: To rest (oneself), especially by going to sleep.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
reflexive
transitive
examples: Now may I repoſe me; Cuſtance is mine owne.
In peace and honour reſt you here my ſonnes, / Roomes readieſt Champions, repoſe you here in reſt, / Secure from vvorldly chaunces and miſhaps: […]
[T]he great Creator hath likevviſe ſignalized his Care and Skill, by giving Animals an architectonick Faculty, to build themſelves convenient places of Retirement, in vvhich to repoſe and ſecure themſelves, and to nurſe up their Young.
gloss: Followed by from or (obsolete) of: to cause (oneself) to take a rest from some activity; also, to allow (oneself) to recover from some activity.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
reflexive
transitive
examples: [A]lthough they ſeme as holidaymenne, to repoſe theymſelfes from all corporall buſineſſe: yet they dooe more good then the others, becauſe they doe the thyng moſt chiefly requiſite to be doen.
[S]he begged I vvould retire into a chamber, and repoſe myſelf from the uncommon fatigues I muſt have undergone; […]
gloss: To give (someone) rest; to refresh (someone) by giving rest.
pos: verb
tags: also
figuratively
obsolete
transitive
examples: [H]ave ye chos'n this place / After the toyl of Battel to repoſe / Your wearied vertue, for the eaſe you find / To ſlumber here, as in the Vales of Heav'n?
VVhoſe Cauſe-vvay parts the vale vvith ſhady rovvs? / VVhoſe ſeats the vveary Traveller repoſe? / VVho feeds yon Alms-houſe, neat, but void of ſtate, / VVhere Age and VVant ſit ſmiling at the gate?
On the twentieth of June he [Johann de Kalb] entered North Carolina, and halted at Hillsborough to repose his wayworn soldiers.
[D]istant banks of purple mist coloured the liquid plain with a cool green-blue, a celadon tint that reposed the eye and the brain.
gloss: To cause (oneself) to have faith in or rely on someone or something.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
reflexive
transitive
examples: That he conſents, if VVarvvicke yeeld conſent, / For on thy fortune I repoſe my ſelfe.
I come to your houſe; I riſk my life; I paſs it in ennui; I repoſe myſelf on your fidelity; […]
gloss: To give (someone) accommodation for the night.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
rare
transitive
gloss: To lean or recline, sit down, or lie down to rest; to rest.
pos: verb
tags: also
figuratively
intransitive
examples: Though then, the Lords deep VViſedome, to this day, / VVork in the VVorlds vncertain-certain Svvay: / Yet muſt vve credit that his hand compos'd / All in ſix Dayes, and that He then Repos'd; / By his example, giving vs beheſt, / On the Seaventh Day for evermore to Reſt.
If you be pleas'd, retire into my Cell, / And there repoſe, a turne or tvvo, […]
[H]is right Cheeke / Repoſing on a Cuſhion.
Then the divine night came, and treading earth, / Close by the flood that had from Jove her birth, / Within a thicket I repos’d; […]
Still is the toiling hand of Care: / The panting herds repoſe: / Yet hark, hovv thro' the peopled air / The buſy murmur glovvs!
At night when I reposed, fair dreams did pass / Before my pillow;— […]
[T]heir materialism, which is the end of all their philosophy, induces them to say, "that the spirit of heaven reposeth in the sun, as the spirit of man reposeth in the eye"[…].
Her court was pure; her life serene; / God gave her peace; her land reposed; / A thousand claims to reverence closed / In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen; […]
[T]hey saw a herd of deer reposing, who, on their appearance, rose from their recumbent position, and began to gaze warily at the strangers; then, tossing their horne, they set off on a stampede, but only swept round, and settled down not far from where they were.
For there may Slid repose beneath the sun and smile at the gods above him with all the smiles of Slid, and be a happier god than Those who sway the Worlds, whose work is Life and Death.
gloss: To lean or recline, sit down, or lie down to rest; to rest.
pos: verb
tags: also
figuratively
intransitive
examples: Simon reposed in the year 1287.
Lord Jesus, who at the hour of Compline reposedst in the tomb, and wast bewailed by thy most sorrowful Mother, and by other women; make us, we beseech thee, with true tears, to bewail thy most holy Passion, and never to give place to the things by which thou wouldst be crucified again.
gloss: Followed by on or upon: of a thing: to lie or be physically positioned on something, especially horizontally; to rest on or be supported by something.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: a trap reposing on sand
On the table reposed a nut cake which she had baked that morning . . . a particularly toothsome concoction iced with pink icing and adorned with walnuts.
gloss: Followed by on or upon: of light, a look, etc.: to fall or rest (and often remain for a while) on something; to alight, to dwell.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: [T]he grate did then unclose, / And on that reverend form the moonlight did repose.
For on such things the memory reposes / With tenderness,— […]
Here there was the brown, breezy sweep of surrounding fields for the eye to repose on; here the trees, leafless as they were, still varied the monotony of the prospect, and helped the mind to look forward to summer time and shade.
gloss: Followed by on or upon: to be based on; to depend or rely on.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The ſoul repoſing on aſſur'd relief, / Feels herſelf happy amidſt all her grief, / Forgets her labour as ſhe toils along, / VVeeps tears of joy, and burſts into a ſong.
Lord Bolingbroke [Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke] may have publiſhed in French a ſketch of his Reflections on Exile: but his reputation novv repoſes on the addreſs of Voltaire, "Docte ſermones utriuſque linguæ;" and by his Engliſh dedication to Queen Caroline, and his Eſſay on Epic Poetry, it ſhould ſeem that Voltaire himſelf vviſhed to deſerve a return of the ſame compliment.
gloss: To cease activity to rest or recover; also, to have a period free from activity or disturbance.
pos: verb
tags: also
archaic
figuratively
intransitive
examples: From the Leila and Majnun of Nizami. […] Thou wert agitated like the sand of the desert; but now thou reposest as the water of the lake.
By the forests, lakes, and fountains / Thro' the many-folded mountains; / To the rents, and gulphs, and chasms, / Where the Earth reposed from spasms, […]
gloss: To have faith in; to confide, to trust.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
examples: I do deſire thy vvorthy company, / Vpon vvhoſe faith and honor, I repoſe.
In queſtions difficult or dangerous, it is indeed natural to repoſe upon authority, and, vvhen fear happens to predominate, upon the authority of thoſe vvhom vve do not generally think vviſer than ourſelves.
We can come home to nothing in our survey of human nature, but to the affections and moral emotions, which are not subservient; and are not governed by ulterior motives. It is upon these that the soul may repose.
gloss: To lie still and unmoving.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
literary
obsolete
poetic
examples: [T]he Pebles, Pyritæ, Amber, or other like Nodules, vvhich happened to be repoſed in thoſe Cliffs, amongſt the Earth ſo beaten dovvn, being hard, and not ſo diſſoluble, and likevviſe more bulky and ponderous, are left behind upon the Shores, being impeded, and ſecured, by that their bulk and vveight, from being born along vvith the Terreſtrial Matter into the Sea.
[H]er dark and deepening eyes, / Which, as twin phantoms of one star that lies / O'er a dim well, move, though the star reposes, / Swam in our mute and liquid ecstasies, […]
When the centuries behind me like a fruitful land reposed; / When I clung to all the present for the promise that it closed: […]
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: So forth ſhe rode vvithout repoſe or reſt, / Searching all lands and each remoteſt part, […]
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: […]
My fathers Palace, Madam, vvill be proud / To entertaine your preſence, if youle daine / To make repoſe vvithin.
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.
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.
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.
[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.
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.
The air is damp, and hush'd, and close, / As a sick man's room when he taketh repose / An hour before death; […]
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.
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.
You would not rob us of our repose, would you, comrades? You would not have us too tired to carry out our duties?
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
uncountable
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
countable
gloss: The state of being peacefully inactive or relaxed, or being free from disturbances or worries; calmness, ease, peace, quietness.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: [T]he Felicity of this life, conſiſteth not in the repoſe of a mind ſatisfied.
[…] 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.
"So may thy lineage find at last repose," / I thus adjur'd him, "as thou solve this knot," / Which now involves my mind.
The air of wealth and repose diffused about them seemed to comfort their neediness.
gloss: Calmness of the mind or temperament; composure.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: 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.
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.
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.
[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.
gloss: Of the face, a muscle, etc.: the state of being relaxed and not in tension.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: In repose the faces of the men were intelligent and dignified, those of the women ofttimes prepossessing.
He has a handsome face, mind you, in repose.
gloss: The state of lying still and unmoving; calmness, tranquillity; (countable) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: 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: […]
[H]e arose, / Ethereal, flush'd, and like a throbbing star / Seen mid the sapphire heaven's deep repose; […]
Over the whole landscape lay a repose and a peace so perfect that no one could have suspected the close proximity of the capital.
gloss: Relief or respite from something exhausting or unpleasant; (countable) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
uncountable
examples: O Sole in whom my thoughts find all repoſe, / My Glorie, my Perfection, glad I ſee / Thy face, […]
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; […]
'Tis almost / Thirty-four years of nearly ceaseless warfare / With the Turk, or the powers of Italy; / The state had need of some repose.
gloss: Confidence, faith, or trust in something.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
uncountable
gloss: The arrangement of elements of an artwork, a building, etc., that is restful and soothing to a viewer; harmony.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: 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.
gloss: The state of leaving something alone or untouched; (countable) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
gloss: Of a natural phenomenon, especially the eruption of a volcano: the state of temporary cessation of activity; dormancy, quiescence.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: 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.
[…] 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.
gloss: A piece of furniture on which one can rest, especially a couch or sofa.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
examples: [S]he lay expecting her coming Lover, on a repoſe of rich Embroidery of Gold on blevv Sattin, […]
gloss: A place of rest.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
examples: [W]orſt is my Port, / My harbour and my ultimate repoſe, / The end I vvould attain, my final good.
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
examples: [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.
Derived words: reappose
reposal
reposed
reposeful
reposefully
reposefulness
reposer
reposing
reposure
reposable
reposance
reposingly
unreposing
altar of repose
angle of repose
lie in repose
repose in action
statute of repose
unrepose
Translations:
lang: Aromanian
word: arãpas
lang: Asturian
word: reposar
lang: Bulgarian
word: отдъхвам
roman: otdǎhvam
lang: Catalan
word: reposar
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 歇息
roman: xiēxi
lang: Czech
word: ležet
lang: Czech
word: spočívat
lang: Czech
word: spočinout
lang: Esperanto
word: ripozi
lang: Finnish
word: levätä
lang: Greek
word: αναπαύω
roman: anapávo
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ἀναπαύω
roman: anapaúō
lang: Italian
word: riposarsi
lang: Ladino
word: repozar
lang: Latin
word: requiescō
lang: Latin
word: repausō
lang: Māori
word: moe
lang: Polish
word: wypoczywać
lang: Polish
word: spoczywać
lang: Portuguese
word: repousar
lang: Romanian
word: răposa
lang: Romanian
word: repauza
lang: Russian
word: поко́иться
roman: pokóitʹsja
lang: Russian
word: отдыха́ть
roman: otdyxátʹ
lang: Sicilian
word: ripusari
lang: Spanish
word: reposar
lang: Armenian
word: հանգիստ
roman: hangist
lang: Bulgarian
word: отдих
roman: otdih
lang: Bulgarian
word: почивка
roman: počivka
lang: Czech
word: odpočinek
lang: Czech
word: spánek
lang: Dutch
word: rust
lang: Esperanto
word: ripozo
lang: Finnish
word: lepo
lang: Greek
word: ανάπαυση
roman: anápafsi
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ἀνάπαυσις
roman: anápausis
lang: Ingrian
word: lepo
lang: Italian
word: riposo
lang: Ladino
word: repozo
lang: Latin
word: requiēs
lang: Polish
word: spoczynek
lang: Polish
word: wypoczynek
lang: Portuguese
word: repouso
lang: Romanian
word: repaus
lang: Romanian
word: odihnă
lang: Russian
word: о́тдых
roman: ótdyx
lang: Sicilian
word: riposu
lang: Spanish
word: reposo
lang: Tocharian B
word: āñu
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: رامش
roman: râmiş
lang: Volapük
word: takäd