desist

(dĭ-sĭst', -zĭst')
intr.v., -sist·ed, -sist·ing, -sists.
To cease doing something; forbear. See synonyms at stop.

[Middle English desisten, from Old French desister, from Latin dēsistere : dē-, de- + sistere, to bring to a standstill.]

View more Literature & Language videos

verb

To cease trying to accomplish or continue: abandon, break off, discontinue, give up, leave off, quit, relinquish, remit, stop. Informal swear off. Slang lay off. Idioms: call it a day, call it quits, hang up one's fiddle, have done with, throw in the towel. See continue/stop/pause.

v

Definition: stop, refrain from
Antonyms: carry on, continue, endure, go on, keep on, persevere, restart, resume

IN BRIEF: To cease from action.

I shall ask leave to desist, when I am interrupted by so great an experiment as dying. — Sir William Davenant.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

See words rhyming with "desist."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Desist.

Dansk (Danish)
v. intr. - afholde sig fra, ophøre med

Nederlands (Dutch)
ophouden

Français (French)
v. intr. - cesser, s'arrêter

Deutsch (German)
v. - Abstand nehmen, aufhören

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - απέχω, παύω ή σταματώ (να), παραιτούμαι (περαιτέρω προσπάθειας κ.λπ.), εγκαταλείπω

Italiano (Italian)
cessare

idioms:

• desist from    desistere da

Português (Portuguese)
v. - desistir

idioms:

• desist from    desistir de

Русский (Russian)
воздержаться

idioms:

• desist from    воздержаться от

Español (Spanish)
v. intr. - desistir

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - avstå, upphöra

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
停止, 断念, 控制

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. intr. - 停止, 斷念, 控制

한국어 (Korean)
v. intr. - 포기하다, 서랍

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - やめる

idioms:

• desist from    断念する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يكف عن ( القيام بعمل ما)‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. intr. - ‮הפסיק, חדל‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.