English dictionary, thesaurus, translations & etymology
FreeDict.com

cease and desist

The origin and history of cease and desist.

Etymology

A legal doublet: cease and desist both came into English from Old French (cesser and desister), from Latin cessare and desistere. Such pairings were common in English legal drafting, where two near-synonyms were set together to close any gap in meaning.

Origin: English

← Back to the full definition of cease and desist
Etymology from FreeDict original editorial, CC BY-SA.