ceasing

Ceasing is the act or process of stopping something that was ongoing. It is the present participle and gerund of the verb cease, which means to stop, end, or abstain from continuing. Ceasing emphasizes the transition from activity to inactivity.

Etymology: Cease derives from Middle English ceasen, from Old French cesser, from Latin cessare, meaning to idle or pause. The related noun cessation denotes the event or state of stopping and is often used in formal writing.

Usage and nuance: Ceasing can describe temporary pauses or permanent termination of activities, states, or processes, as in ceasing operations or ceasing publication. Cessation, a more formal noun, is commonly used in fields such as medicine, public policy, and law (for example, smoking cessation or cessation of hostilities). In legal contexts, more common is the verb cease in commands such as cease and desist; ceasing may appear in descriptive or contractual language describing ongoing processes.

Contexts: Ceasing is regularly employed in everyday language to discuss stopping or ending activities, while cessation is preferred for formal statements about the end state of a condition, behavior, or policy. The concept appears in business shutdowns, decommissioning of equipment, termination of agreements, and the end of conflicts or treatments.

See also: cessation, cease and desist, shutdown, decommissioning, termination.