surcease

To surcease is to bring something to an end — an elegant word with Latin roots. Whether it's surceasing worry, chatter, or a relentless to-do list, sometimes all we need is a moment of quiet.

surcease
[ sur-sees ] Show IPA
verb

to come to an end

Surcease: Word of the Day


More about surcease
First recorded between 1400–50.
From the Latin supersedere, meaning “to refrain or omit.”
Related to supersede.
EXAMPLES OF SURCEASE

The birds return to their nests and surcease from chirping.
We hoped their constant disputes would one day surcease.

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supersede
verb
superseded; superseding
Synonyms of supersede
transitive verb

1
a
: to cause to be set aside
b
: to force out of use as inferior
2
: to take the place or position of
3
: to displace in favor of another
superseder noun


Did you know?
Language is constantly evolving, with old spellings and meanings superseded by new ones over time. Naturally, supersede itself has its share of predecessors. Supersede ultimately comes from the Latin verb supersed;re, meaning "to sit on top of" (sed;re means "to sit"), "to be superior to," or "to refrain from," but it came to English through Scots Middle English, where it was rendered superceden and used synonymously with defer. Modern English speakers are often confused about how to spell supersede—it sometimes turns up as supercede. In fact, some of the earliest records of the word in English show it spelled with a c. Though both spellings can be etymologically justified, over time supersede won out as the "correct" version.

Synonyms
cut out
displace
displant
relieve
replace
substitute
supplant
Choose the Right Synonym for supersede

replace, displace, supplant, supersede mean to put out of a usual or proper place or into the place of another.

replace implies a filling of a place once occupied by something lost, destroyed, or no longer usable or adequate.

replaced the broken window
displace implies an ousting or dislodging.

war had displaced thousands
supplant implies either a dispossessing or usurping of another's place, possessions, or privileges or an uprooting of something and its replacement with something else.

was abruptly supplanted in her affections by another
supersede implies replacing a person or thing that has become superannuated, obsolete, or otherwise inferior.

the new edition supersedes all previous ones
Examples of supersede in a Sentence
Fortunately, the scientific enterprise has its own self-correcting mechanisms that eventually sort things out. Studies that are wrong will be superseded by better studies with different results. Studies that are right will be corroborated by other good studies.
—Harriet Hall, Skeptic, 2007
The ancient human carriers of information and understanding—elders, priests, bards, teachers, and community members—are superseded by a more durable and efficient medium, the printed word.
—M. Rex Miller, The Millennium Matrix, 2004
Upgrading America's too-old, too-slow telephone network, which took about a century to build, is a massive task. But if you believe predictions that the Internet will one day supersede the telephone as the world's primary means of communications, these companies will be road kill if they simply sit by the wayside.
—Bethany McLean, Fortune, 6 Dec. 1999
This edition supersedes the previous one.
Former stars were being superseded by younger actors.