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Origin and history of pause

pause(n.)

early 15c., "a delay, a temporary rest in singing or speaking," from Old French pausee "a pause, interruption" (14c.) and directly from Latin pausa "a halt, stop, cessation," from Greek pausis "stopping, ceasing," from pauein "to stop (trans.), hold back, arrest, to cause to cease," a word of uncertain etymology with no certain cognates outside Greek [Beekes]. Later also "a hesitation proceeding from doubt or uncertainty;" hence to give (one) pause "cause to stop or hesitate" (c. 1600).

pause(v.)

"make a temporary stop or intermission," 1520s, from pause (n.) and from French pauser, from Late Latin pausare "to halt, cease, pause," ultimately from Late Latin pausa. Related: Paused; pausing.

also from 1520s

Entries linking to pause

compose(v.)

c. 1400, compousen, "to write" (a book), from Old French composer "put together, compound; adjust, arrange; write" a work (12c.), from com- "with, together" (see com-) + poser "to place," from Late Latin pausare "to cease, lay down" (see pause (n.)).

Meaning influenced in Old French by componere "to arrange, direct" (see composite; also see compound (v.), pose (v.)), which gradually was replaced in French by composer. Similar confusion is found in expose, oppose, repose (v.2), transpose, etc.

Meaning "to make or form by uniting two or more things" is from late 15c. Sense of "be the substance or elements of, make up" is from 1540s. Sense of "invent and put (music) into proper form" is from 1590s. From c. 1600 as "bring into a composed state, to cal, quiet;" from 1650s as "place (parts or elements) in proper form, arrange."

In painting, "combine into an arrangement with artistic effect" (1782). In printing, "put into type" (1630s), but the usual term among printers was set. Related: Composed; composing. The printers' composing room is from 1737.

magnetopause(n.)

"outer limit of the magnetosphere," 1963, from magneto- in magnetosphere + pause (n.).

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Trends of pause

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

pose
late 14c., posen, "suggest (something is so), suppose, assume; grant, concede," from Old French poser "put, place, propose," a term in debating, from Late Latin pausare "to halt, rest, cease, pause" (source also of Italian posare, Spanish posar; see pause (v.)). The Late Latin ve
repose
"lie or be at rest," mid-15c., reposen, "rest (oneself)," from Old French reposer, earlier repauser (10c.), from Late Latin repausare "cause to rest," from re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see re-), + pausare "to stop" (see pause (v.)). Related: Reposed; reposing...."to put
intermission
early 15c., "fact of intermitting, temporary pause," from Latin intermissionem (nominative intermissio) "a breaking off, discontinuance, interruption," noun of action from past participle stem of intermittere "to leave off, leave an interval," from inter "between" (see inter-) +
caesura
"a pause about the middle of a metrical line" (often coinciding with a pause in sense), 1550s, from Latin caesura, "metrical...pause," literally "a cutting," from past participle stem of caedere "to cut down" (from PIE root *kae-id- "to strike")....of a metrical foot between two words, a break within a foot caused by the end of a word," as opposed to a diaeresis, a pause...
demurrer
1530s, "a pause, a delay" (a sense now obsolete); 1540 as legal pleading to the effect that, even conceding the facts to...to delay, retard," from Latin demorari "to linger, loiter, tarry," from de- (see de-) + morari "to delay," from mora "a pause...
ellipsis
In reading aloud, a short pause was proper at a grammatical ellipsis in the writing....WHEN a word or words are omitted by the figure ellipsis, a pause is necessary where the ellipsis occurs....Cicero; or Exercises in Modern Oratory," Dublin, 1823]  Probably the association of the typographical symbol with a pause...in speaking is why 20c. writers began to use the three periods to denote a pause or an interruption in dialogue, creating...
demurrage
stay, delay, retard," from Latin demorari "to linger, loiter, tarry," from de- (see de-) + morari "to delay," from mora "a pause...
rest
[sleep, repose, slumber] Old English ræste, reste "rest; a bed or couch; intermission of labor; mental peace, state of quiet or repose," from Proto-Germanic *rasto- (source also of Old Saxon resta "resting place, burial-place," Dutch rust, Old High German rasta, German Rast "rest
delay
c. 1300, delaien, "to put off, postpone;" late 14c., "to put off or hinder for a time," from Old French delaiier, from de- "away, from" (see de-) + laier "leave, let." This is perhaps a variant of Old French laissier, from Latin laxare "slacken, undo" (see lax). But Watkins has i
waver
late 13c., weyveren, "to show indecision," probably related to Old English wæfre "restless, wavering," from Proto-Germanic *wæbraz (source also of Middle High German wabern "to waver," Old Norse vafra "to hover about"), a frequentative form from the root of wave (v.), with German

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Dictionary entries near pause
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