English
pause
Pause comes from Latin pausa ‘a pause, halt, stop, cessation, end’, from Ancient Greek παῦσις ‘stopping, ceasing’, and ultimately from παύω ‘stop’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπαύω1paúō‘stop’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπαῦσις1paûsis‘stopping, ceasing’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpausa1‘a pause, halt, stop, cessation, end’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pause1
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596pause1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English pause
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame: “Take time to pause.”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπαύωWiktionary, English pausepaúō‘stop’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπαῦσιςWiktionary, English pausepaûsis‘stopping, ceasing’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpausaWiktionary, English pause‘a pause, halt, stop, cessation, end’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pauseWiktionary, English pause
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596pauseWiktionary, English pause. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame: “Take time to pause.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘few, little’
few, poor, fewer, puppy, pupil, puppet, pediatrics, filly, pedagogy, pave, orthopedics, puerile, pupa, paucity, 27 more
through Ancient Greek παύω ‘stop’
through Ancient Greek παῦσις ‘stopping, ceasing’
through Latin pausa ‘a pause, halt, stop, cessation, end’
Today it means
verb To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “pause”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek παύω / pause