respit

Respit is a noun meaning a short period of rest or relief from something difficult, or a delay or postponement of punishment or obligation. The standard modern spelling is respite, and respit survives chiefly as an archaic or regional variant found in older texts or some dialects. The term originated in Old French respit, meaning a delay or rest.

In usage, respit is primarily used as a noun. The phrase “to grant a respite” refers to granting a temporary delay or relief. In everyday language, a respite represents a break from stress or labor: for example, a brief respite from a demanding schedule. In legal contexts, a respite is a formal postponement of a sentence or punishment, distinct from a reprieve in many jurisdictions.

Because respit is rare in contemporary usage, it is often avoided in favor of respite. Dictionaries typically mark respit as archaic or nonstandard. The word is related to other terms such as relief, pause, break, and reprieve, which convey similar ideas of a temporary delay or relief from obligation or hardship.