Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Desist |
DesistVerb1. Choose to refrain; "I abstain from alcohol". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "desist" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Note: Desist \De*sist"\, intransitive verb. [imperative past participle Desisted; present participle verb or noun Desisting.]. (Websters 1913) |
Synonyms: DesistSynonyms: abstain (v), refrain (v). (additional references) |
| Antonym: consume (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Cessation | Verb: cease, discontinue, desist, stay, halt; break off, leave off; hold, stop, pull up, stop short; stick, hang fire; halt; pause, rest; burn out, blow out, melt down. |
Inaction | Verb: not do, not act, not attempt; be inactive; abstain from doing, do nothing, hold, spare; not stir, not move, not lift a finger, not lift a foot, not lift a peg; fold one's arms, fold one's hands; leave alone, let alone; let be, let pass, let things take their course, let it have its way, let well alone, let well enough alone; quieta non movere; stare super antiquas vias; rest and be thankful, live and let live; lie rest upon one's oars; laisser aller, faire; stand aloof; refrain; (avoid) keep oneself from doing; remit one's efforts, relax one's efforts; desist; (relinquish); stop; (cease); pause; (be quiet). |
Prohibition | Hands off! keep off! hold! stop! desist! cease and desist! avast! |
Relinquishment | Break off, leave off; desist; stop; (cease); hold one's hand, stay one's hand; quit one's hold; give over, shut up shop. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Desist |
| English words defined with "desist": Absist ♦ Blin ♦ cease and desist order ♦ Desisted, Desisting ♦ To break off from, To have done, To laugh down, To leave alone, To leave off, To speak for Buncombe. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "desist": Phædria ♦ supervisory agreement. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "desist": Desistive. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Magna Carta | 1215 | We shall have, moreover, the same respite and in the same manner in rendering justice concerning the disafforestation or retention of those forests which Henry our father and Richard our brother afforested, and concerning the wardship of lands which are of the fief of another (namely, such wardships as we have hitherto had by reason of a fief which anyone held of us by knight's service), and concerning abbeys founded on other fiefs than our own, in which the lord of the fee claims to have right; and when we have returned, or if we desist from our expedition, we will immediately grant full justice to all who complain of such things. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | If damages are evident, the court will make a preliminary injunction and order the defendant to cease and desist from the offending advertising activity. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Paraguay | A cease and desist order against "ABC Color" reporter Hugo Ruiz Olazar has been lifted. (references) |
Zimbabwe | In 2000 Nyarota received a letter from an unknown organization threatening him if the newspaper did not desist from publishing articles critical of the Government and President Mugabe in particular. (references) | |
Honduras | When the news media attempted to report in depth on national politicians or official corruption, they continued to face obstacles, such as external pressures to desist from their investigations, artificially tight reporting deadlines, and a lack of access to Government information and independent sources. (references) | |
Economic History | Colombia | Thus, U.S. companies found doing business with SDNTs will be notified by OFAC to cease and desist. (references) |
Belgium | Whatever their qualifications or title, persons are considered statutory representatives if they exercise their activity as a sustained independent profession and fulfill the following conditions: 1) engage in the activity of a sales representative for the account of one or more employers; 2) desist from executing commercial operations on their own behalf; 3) institute mutual commitments with employers regarding the nature of the goods or services offered for sale, the region of activity or the category of clients, and the rate of compensation. (references) | |
Human Rights | Ghana | In 2000 the military authorities appealed to the public to desist from involving the military in solving personal disputes. (references) |
Worker Rights | Brazil | In most cases, inspectors attempt to reach agreements and have employers desist from labor law violations before levying fines equivalent to $155 (400 reais) per violation. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Desist" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 86.60% of the time. "Desist" is used about 97 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 86.6% | 84 | 36,109 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 12.37% | 12 | 101,599 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.03% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 97 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "desist": cease and desist order ♦ desist from ♦ desist from doing. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "desist": cease-and-desist. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
cease and desist | 49 |
cease and desist letter | 32 |
desist | 27 |
cease desist order | 14 |
cease desist letter sample | 9 |
cease desist letter to creditor | 8 |
cease desist form | 3 |
cease creditor desist form letter | 3 |
cease collector debt desist | 3 |
cease collection desist letter | 3 |
agency cease collection desist letter | 3 |
cease credit desist letter | 2 |
cease desist letter trademark | 2 |
cease desist form letter | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "desist"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | pushoj (cease, die, discontinue, dismiss, give over, hush, intermit, pacify, pass, pause, quiet down, quieten, quit, rest, shut down, Stow), ndërpres (abort, break, break up, call, cease, cut off, discontinue, heckle, intercept, interjaculate, intermit, interrupt, intersect, leave off, punctuate, stop, strangulate, suspend). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | كف عن (abstain from, cease, forbear, leave off, refrain), تخلى (abandon, assign, cast aside, cede, disgorge, expose, forsake, give up, go back on, hand over, leave, let down, part, quit, release, relinquish, renounce, repudiate, resign, retreat, shake, shrift, sign away, slough, swear off, throw over, turn one's back on, vacate, waive, walk out on, yield), أقلع عن (abandon, get off, leave off). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | въздържам се (forgone, keep one's temper, restrain oneself), преставам (cease, fall out, finish, leave off, lift, quit, stop, subside). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 停止 (Cease, Ceased, Ceasing, Cessation, Descend, Descended, Descending, Desisted, Desisting, stoppage, stopped, stopped-up, stopping, Stopping-out). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | upustit od (desist from, opt). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | bevel om iets te doen (cease and desist order, mandatory, restrictive injunction), bevel om iets niet te doen (cease and desist order, mandatory, restrictive injunction), bevel om iets na telaten (cease and desist order, mandatory, restrictive injunction). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | دست کشیدن (Cease, Resign), دست برداشتن از, بازایستادن . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | luopua (abandon, give up, leave off, relinquish). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | se quitter, s'arrêter, cesser. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | ablassen (abandon, blow off, discard, discount, drain, drain off, draining, empty, exhale, knock off, leave off, let off, rebate, surcease, to desist, to drain, to surcease). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | παύω (cease, depose, pause, stop), παραιτούμαι (abdicate, abnegate, disclaim, forgo, give up, go without, leave, quit, relinquish, relinquish to, resign, resign from, waive), απέχω (abstain, be distant, eschew, forbear, forgo, hold off, refrain, stand off, to be off work). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | לח"ול מן- (abstain), לח"ול (cease, leave off, let up, stop), ל"רפות (forsake, lay off, let up, relax, slack, temper, unhand). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | eláll valamitõl. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | berhenti (cease, pause, quit, resign, stop). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | desistere (give up). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 思い止まる (to desist from, to give up), 思い止どまる (to desist from, to give up), 思いとどまる (to desist from, to give up). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | おもいとどまる (to desist from, to give up). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | scuirr (abort, adjourn, adjournment, break up, bring to, cease, ceasing, cessation, discontinuance, discontinue, halt, intermission, intermittence, leave off, let up, pause, prorogation, prorogue, pull up, respite, rest, retirement, ring off; interval, shut off, stall, stop). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | esistday desistir (abdicate, back down, back off, depart, forsake, give up, leave, off, quit), renunciar (abandon, abdicate, abjure, abnegate, depart, disclaim, foregoing, fossa, give up, renounce, resign, surrender, waive), ceder (abandon, assign, break, bring to one's knees, cede, convey, demise, dispose of, folder, give in, give up, give way, go, grant, hand over, humor, humour, indulge, knucklebone, part with, prelude, pull off, relinquish, resign, sag, sell, sink, spare, submit, succumb, to yield, transfer, truckle, vail, vend, weaken, yield). (various references) înceta de a mai (desist from). (various references) переставать (cease, cease to). (various references) sguir (cease, stop). (various references) prestati (cease, cut out, discontinue, end, intermit, knock off, leave, quit, surcease). (various references) desistir (renounce, resign). (various references) upphöra (cease, come to an end, end, expire, finish off, finish up, give up, go, lapse, pass, pass over, stop), avstå (abstain, cede, give up, refrain, relinquish, resign). (various references) vazgeçmek (abandon, back down, back down from, back out, back out of, back track, backtrack, be off, beat a retreat, cease, cede, change one's mind, cry off, cut loose, declare off, disclaim, dispense with, do without, drop the reins, forbear, forego, forgo, forsake, give over, give up, go without, jack in, kick, leave, leave off, opt out, quit, recant, recede, relinquish, remit, renounce, resign, retract, sink, Stow, surrender, swerve, throw over, throw up, turn about, turn around, turn up, unlearn, waive, wangle, wangle out of), çekilmek (abdicate, be pulled, bolt, bow, bow out, decline, draw away, draw back, draw off, dry up, ebb, edge out, give over, go out, gravitate, opt out, quit, recede, repair, resign, retire, retract, scratch, secede, stand, step aside, step down, walk out, withdraw). (various references) утримуватися (abstain, forbear, forego, forgo, hold back, refrain from, restrain oneself, waive, withhold), припиняти (abate, adjourn, cease, discontinue, end, give over, leave off, nip, stash, stop, surcease), переставати (cease, cheese, give over, leave off). (various references) peidio (cease, refrain, stop). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | abscedat, abscedentibus, absisto, deseram, deserant, deserat, desere, deserit, desieris, desierunt, desiit, desinam, desinant, desinas, desinat, desine, desines, desinet, desinis, desinite, desino, desino (desiit), desisset, desit, desiveris, desivimus, desivit. (various references) |
| Middle French | 1400-1600 | superceder. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "desist": desistance, desistances, desisted, desisting, desists. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "desist": geodesist. (additional references) | |
Words containing "desist": geodesists. (additional references) | |
| |
"Desist" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: daoist, Daysit, decisi, decist, Decst, dehist, delist, denist, densis, desat, deseast, desiate, desic, desilt, desis, desista, desize, Dessi, dessin, dessist, dexis, disast, disist, edoist, Edsvs. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "desist" (pronounced dusi"st or duzi"st) |
| 5 | -u s i" s t | assist. |
| 4 | -s i" s t | cist, consist, cyst, insist, persist, subsist. |
| 3 | -i" s t | coexist, delist, dismissed, enlist, exist, fist, gist, grist, hissed, kissed, kist, list, missed, mist, pissed, preexist, reminisced, resist, schist, twist, wist, wrist. |
| 5 | -u z i" s t | resist. |
| 4 | -z i" s t | coexist, exist, preexist. |
| 3 | -i" s t | assist, cist, consist, cyst, delist, dismissed, enlist, fist, gist, grist, hissed, insist, kissed, kist, list, missed, mist, persist, pissed, reminisced, schist, subsist, twist, wist, wrist. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: deists. | |
| Words within the letters "d-e-i-s-s-t" | |
-1 letter: deist, diets, dites, edits, sides, sited, sites, stied, sties, tides. | |
-2 letters: dies, diet, diss, dite, dits, edit, ides, seis, sets, side, site, sits, teds, tide, tied, ties. | |
-3 letters: die, dis, dit, eds, ess, ids, its, sei, set, sis, sit, ted, tie, tis. | |
-4 letters: de, ed, es, et, id, is, it, si, ti. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-e-i-s-s-t" | |
+1 letter: bedsits, delists, desists, digests, disseat, dissect, dissent, dissert, divests, snidest, strides, studies, tissued. | |
+2 letters: assisted, bilsteds, cestoids, dashiest, dentists, deposits, desisted, despites, destains, destines, diastase, diastems, diasters, diesters, diestrus, disaster, discepts, dishiest, disjects, disputes, disrates, disseats, dissects, dissents, disserts, distaste, distaves, distends, distomes, distress, ditsiest, duelists, duskiest, dustiest, editress, feudists, fideists, insisted, mindsets, misdates, misedits, mistends, modistes, osteoids, outsides, resisted, sandiest, sedgiest, seediest, shadiest, sidestep, sistered, solidest, staidest, steadies, steroids, stipends, striders, studdies, studiers, sturdies, stylised, subedits, sudsiest, tideless, tidiness, topsides. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)44 65 73 69 73 74 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-.. . ... .. ... - |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000100 01100101 01110011 01101001 01110011 01110100 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)D e s i s t |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0044 0065 0073 0069 0073 0074 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)387185758586 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Historic 6. Quotations: Non-fiction 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Orthography 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.