c. 1300, cesen, "to stop moving, acting, or speaking; come to an end," from Old French cesser "to come to an end, stop, cease; give up, desist," from Latin cessare "to cease, go slow, give over, leave off, be idle," frequentative of cedere (past participle cessus) "go away, withdraw, yield" (from PIE root *ked- "to go, yield"). Transitive sense "put a stop to," now rare, is from late 14c. Related: Ceased; ceasing. Old English in this sense had geswican, blinnan.
