repose

The verb is derived from Middle English reposen (“to rest”),^[1] from Anglo-Norman reposer, reposir, and Middle French reposer, from Old French reposer, repauser (“to become calm; to be peaceful; to rest; to be immobile; to lie or be placed; to cease, stop; to neglect”) (modern French reposer), from Latin repausāre, the present active infinitive of repausō (“(Late Latin) to be at rest; to lie down, rest; to sleep; to calm, pacify; (Latin) to halt temporarily, pause”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again; back, backwards’) + pausō (“to cease, halt; to pause”)^[2] (from pausa (“a halt, stop; a pause; an end”), from Ancient Greek παῦσῐς (paûsis, “ceasing, stopping”), from παύω (paúō, “to cease; to make to cease, stop; to bring to an end; to hinder”) (further etymology uncertain; possibly from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”)) + -σῐς (-sis, suffix forming abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result)).

The noun is derived from Late Middle English repose, from Anglo-Norman repous, repos, and Middle French repos, repose, from Old French repos (“calm; rest; period or state of sleep; state of immobility; state of inaction”) (modern French repos), from reposer, repauser (verb) (see above).^[3]

Noun sense 12.3 (“technique of including in a painting an area or areas which are dark, indistinct, or soft in tone”) is borrowed from French repos.^[3]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈpəʊz/
• (General American) enPR: rĭ-pōzʹ IPA^(key): /ɹəˈpoʊz/, /ɹi-/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊz
• Hyphenation: re‧pose

repose (third-person singular simple present reposes, present participle reposing, simple past and past participle reposed)

1. (transitive)
   1. (also figurative, archaic) To lay (someone, or part of their body) down to rest.
      • 1589, Thomas Lodge, “The Most Pithie and Pleasant Historie of Glaucus and Silla”, in Scillaes Metamorphosis: Enterlaced with the Unfortunate Loue of Glaucus. […], London: […] Richard Jhones, […], →OCLC, signature A2, recto:

        The Sea-god Glaucus […] Repoſd his head vpon my faintfull knée: […]

      • 1728, [John] Gay, The Beggar’s Opera. […], London: […] John Watts, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene vi, page 17:

        I could mock the ſultry Toil, / VVhen on my Charmer's Breaſt repos'd.

      • 1786, Robert Burns, “The Holy Fair”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. […], 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC, stanza XI, page 42:

        VVha's ain dear laſs, that he likes beſt, / Comes clinkin dovvn beſide him! / VVi' arm repos'd on the chair-back, / He ſvveetly does compoſe him; […]

      • 1850, Thomas H[enry] Dyer, chapter XV, in The Life of John Calvin. […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 516:

        A hundred times hast thou said, when, wearied with thy labours and oppressed by thy troubles, thou reposedst thy head familiarly on my breast, 'Would that I could die in this bosom!'

      • 1852, [Matthew] A[rnold], “Tristram and Iseult. I. Tristram.”, in Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems, London: B. Fellowes, […], page 126:

        [T]he eyes clos'd— / The lashes on the cheeks repos'd.

      • 1903–1906, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Harbinger”, in The Voice of the City, complete edition, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company, published 1908, →OCLC, page 49:

        Mrs. Peters reposed her 200 pounds on the safer of the two chairs and gazed stolidly out the one window at the brick wall opposite.

   2. (reflexive, archaic) To rest (oneself), especially by going to sleep.
      • c. 1552 (date written), Nicholas Udall, [Ralph Roister Doister], [London]: [s.n.], published 1566?; republished as Edward Arber, editor, Roister Doister. […] (English Reprints), London: Muir & Paterson, […], 24 July 1869, →OCLC, Act I, scene iiii, page 30:

        Now may I repoſe me; Cuſtance is mine owne.

      • c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Millington, […], published 1594, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], signature B, verso:

        In peace and honour reſt you here my ſonnes, / Roomes readieſt Champions, repoſe you here in reſt, / Secure from vvorldly chaunches and miſhaps: […]

      • 1713, W[illiam] Derham, “[A Survey of the Terraqueous Globe.] Of the Houses, and Habitations of Animals.”, in Physico-Theology: Or, A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from His Works of Creation. […], London: […] W[illiam] Innys, […], →OCLC, book IV (Of Animals in General), page 226:

        [T]he great Creator hath likevviſe ſignalized his Care and Skill, by giving Animals an architectonick Faculty, to build themſelves convenient places of Retirement, in vvhich to repoſe and ſecure themſelves, and to nurſe up their Young.

   3. (reflexive, archaic) Followed by from or (obsolete) of: to cause (oneself) to take a rest from some activity; also, to allow (oneself) to recover from some activity.
      • 1549 February 10 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1548), Erasmus, “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Ghospell of S. Luke. The .x. Chapter.”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., The First Tome or Volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Newe Testamente, London: […] Edwarde Whitchurche, →OCLC, folio cv, verso:

        [A]lthough they ſeme as holidaymenne, to repoſe theymſelfes from all corporall buſineſſe: yet they dooe more good then the others, becauſe they doe the thyng moſt chiefly requiſite to be doen.

      • 1753, [Tobias Smollett], “The History of the Noble Castilian”, in The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom. […], volume I, London: […] W. Johnston, […], →OCLC, page 175:

        [S]he begged I vvould retire into a chamber, and repoſe myſelf from the uncommon fatigues I muſt have undergone; […]

   4. (obsolete)
      1. (also figurative) To give (someone) rest; to refresh (someone) by giving rest.
         • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 318–321:

           [H]ave ye chos'n this place / After the toyl of Battel to repoſe / Your wearied vertue, for the eaſe you find / To ſlumber here, as in the Vales of Heav'n?

         • 1733 (indicated as 1732), [Alexander] Pope, Of the Use of Riches, an Epistle to the Right Honourable Allen Lord Bathurst, London: […] J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 13:

           VVhoſe Cauſe-vvay parts the vale vvith ſhady rovvs? / VVhoſe ſeats the vveary Traveller repoſe? / VVho feeds yon Alms-houſe, neat, but void of ſtate, / VVhere Age and VVant ſit ſmiling at the gate?

         • 1874, George Bancroft, “War in the South: Cornwallis and Gates. 1780.”, in History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume X (The American Revolution. Epoch Fourth Continued. […]), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 315:

           On the twentieth of June he [Johann de Kalb] entered North Carolina, and halted at Hillsborough to repose his wayworn soldiers.

         • 1876, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “To Sánga-Tánga and Back”, in Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo. […], part I (The Gaboon River and Gorilla Land), London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle, […], →OCLC, page 125:

           [D]istant banks of purple mist coloured the liquid plain with a cool green-blue, a celadon tint that reposed the eye and the brain.

      2. (reflexive) To cause (oneself) to have faith in or rely on someone or something.
         • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii], page 168, column 1:

           That he conſents, if VVarvvicke yeeld conſent, / For on thy fortune I repoſe my ſelfe.

         • 1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Our Guest Quits Us as Not Being Hospitable Enough”, in The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. […] , volume III, London: […] Smith, Elder, & Company, […], →OCLC, page 277:

           I come to your houſe; I riſk my life; I paſs it in ennui; I repoſe myſelf on your fidelity; […]

      3. (rare) To give (someone) accommodation for the night.
2. (intransitive)
   2. (also figurative) To lean or recline, sit down, or lie down to rest; to rest.
      • 1608, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[Du Bartas His First VVeek, or Birth of the VVorld: […].] The Seaventh Daie of the First VVeek.”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, →OCLC, page 185:

        Though then, the Lords deep VViſedome, to this day, / VVork in the VVorlds vncertain-certain Svvay: / Yet muſt vve credit that his hand compos'd / All in ſix Dayes, and that He then Repos'd; / By his example, giving vs beheſt, / On the Seaventh Day for evermore to Reſt.

      • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 15:

        If you be pleas'd, retire into my Cell, / And there repoſe, a turne or tvvo, […]

      • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 389, column 1:

        [H]is right Cheeke / Repoſing on a Cuſhion.

      • 1614–1615, Homer, “The Seventh Book of Homer’s Odysseys”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume I, London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC, page 165, lines 393–395:

        Then the divine night came, and treading earth, / Close by the flood that had from Jove her birth, / Within a thicket I repos’d; […]

        The spelling has been modernized.

      • 1753, T[homas] Gray, “Ode”, in Designs by Mr. R[ichard] Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, page 2:

        Still is the toiling hand of Care: / The panting herds repoſe: / Yet hark, hovv thro' the peopled air / The buſy murmur glovvs!

      • 1817 December (indicated as 1818), Percy B[ysshe] Shelley, “Canto Fourth”, in Laon and Cythna; or, The Revolution of the Golden City: A Vision of the Nineteenth Century. […], London: […] [F]or Sherwood, Neely, & Jones, […]; and C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier, […]; by B[uchanan] M‘Millan, […], →OCLC, stanza XXXIII, page 91:

        At night when I reposed, fair dreams did pass / Before my pillow;— […]

      • 1831 May–August, [Karl Friedrich] Neumann, “Chinese Literature. Professor Neumann in Reply to MM. Kurz and [Julius] Klaproth.”, in The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australasia, volume V (New Series), number 17, London: Parbury, Allen, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 231:

        [T]heir materialism, which is the end of all their philosophy, induces them to say, "that the spirit of heaven reposeth in the sun, as the spirit of man reposeth in the eye" […].

      • 1851 March, Alfred Tennyson, “To the Queen”, in The Complete Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson, Chicago, Ill.: The Dominion Company, published 1897, →OCLC, page 2:

        Her court was pure; her life serene; / God gave her peace; her land reposed; / A thousand claims to reverence closed / In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen; […]

      • a. 1865 (date written), Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter XVIII, in Julian Hawthorne, editor, Doctor Grimshawe’s Secret: A Romance […], Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, published 1883, →OCLC, page 227:

        [T]hey saw a herd of deer reposing, who, on their appearance, rose from their recumbent position, and began to gaze warily at the strangers; then, tossing their horne, they set off on a stampede, but only swept round, and settled down not far from where they were.

      • 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], “The Sayings of Slid (whose Soul is by the Sea)”, in The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, pages 15–16:

        For there may Slid repose beneath the sun and smile at the gods above him with all the smiles of Slid, and be a happier god than Those who sway the Worlds, whose work is Life and Death.

      1. (figurative) Especially (chiefly Eastern Orthodoxy) of a saint: to die, to rest in peace.

         Simon reposed in the year 1287.

         • [1850], James Merlo Horstius, “Litany of the Life and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”, in [anonymous], transl., The Paradise of the Christian Soul, […], London: Burns & Lambert, […], →OCLC, part VI (On the Life and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ), page 460, column 2:

           Lord Jesus, who at the hour of Compline reposedst in the tomb, and wast bewailed by thy most sorrowful Mother, and by other women; make us, we beseech thee, with true tears, to bewail thy most holy Passion, and never to give place to the things by which thou wouldst be crucified again.

   3. Followed by on or upon: of a thing: to lie or be physically positioned on something, especially horizontally; to rest on or be supported by something.

      a trap reposing on sand

      • 1909 September, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “Selling in Haste and Repenting at Leisure”, in Anne of Avonlea, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, →OCLC, page 22:

        On the table reposed a nut cake which she had baked that morning . . . a particularly toothsome concoction iced with pink icing and adorned with walnuts.

   4. Followed by on or upon: of light, a look, etc.: to fall or rest (and often remain for a while) on something; to alight, to dwell.
      • 1817 December (indicated as 1818), Percy B[ysshe] Shelley, “Canto Third”, in Laon and Cythna; or, The Revolution of the Golden City: A Vision of the Nineteenth Century. […], London: […] [F]or Sherwood, Neely, & Jones, […]; and C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier, […]; by B[uchanan] M‘Millan, […], →OCLC, stanza XXVIII, page 71:

        [T]he grate did then unclose, / And on that reverend form the moonlight did repose.

      • 1819 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, canto II, stanza LVIII, page 148:

        For on such things the memory reposes / With tenderness,— […]

      • 1859 November 26 – 1860 August 25, [William] Wilkie Collins, “Hartright’s Narrative”, in The Woman in White. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, […], published 1860, →OCLC, part II, section VIII, page 206, column 2:

        Here there was the brown, breezy sweep of surrounding fields for the eye to repose on; here the trees, leafless as they were, still varied the monotony of the prospect, and helped the mind to look forward to summer time and shade.

   5. Followed by on or upon: to be based on; to depend or rely on.
      • 1781 (date written), William Cowper, “Truth”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1782, →OCLC, page 96:

        The ſoul repoſing on aſſur'd relief, / Feels herſelf happy amidſt all her grief, / Forgets her labour as ſhe toils along, / VVeeps tears of joy, and burſts into a ſong.

      • a. 1795 (date written), Edward Gibbon, “Memoirs of My Life and Writings”, in John Lord Sheffield [i.e., John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield], editor, Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon, Esquire. […], volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Strahan, and T[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies, (successors to Mr. [Thomas] Cadell), […], published 1796, →OCLC, pages 93–94:

        Lord Bolingbroke [Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke] may have publiſhed in French a ſketch of his Reflections on Exile: but his reputation novv repoſes on the addreſs of Voltaire, "Docte ſermones utriuſque linguæ;" and by his Engliſh dedication to Queen Caroline, and his Eſſay on Epic Poetry, it ſhould ſeem that Voltaire himſelf vviſhed to deſerve a return of the ſame compliment.

   6. (also figurative, archaic) To cease activity to rest or recover; also, to have a period free from activity or disturbance.
      • 1817 September 30, Vans Kennedy, “III. An Essay on Persian Literature.”, in Transactions of The Literary Society of Bombay, volume II, London: […] [Richard and Arthur Taylor] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and John Murray, […], published 1820, →OCLC, page 92:

        From the Leila and Majnun of Nizami. […] Thou wert agitated like the sand of the desert; but now thou reposest as the water of the lake.

      • 1818–1819 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Prometheus Unbound”, in Prometheus Unbound […], London: C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], published 1820, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, pages 71–72:

        By the forests, lakes, and fountains / Thro' the many-folded mountains; / To the rents, and gulphs, and chasms, / Where the Earth reposed from spasms, […]

   7. (obsolete) To have faith in; to confide, to trust.
      • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 34:

        I do deſire thy vvorthy company, / Vpon vvhoſe faith and honor, I repoſe.

      • 1751 July 13 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. 135. Tuesday, July 2. 1751.”, in The Rambler, volume VI, Edinburgh: […] Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1751, →OCLC, pages 23–24:

        In queſtions difficult or dangerous, it is indeed natural to repoſe upon authority, and, vvhen fear happens to predominate, upon the authority of thoſe vvhom vve do not generally think vviſer than ourſelves.

      • 1832, [Isaac Taylor], “The State of Souls”, in Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC, pages 396–397:

        We can come home to nothing in our survey of human nature, but to the affections and moral emotions, which are not subservient; and are not governed by ulterior motives. It is upon these that the soul may repose.

   8. (obsolete, literary and poetic) To lie still and unmoving.
      • 1695, John Woodward, “Part IV. Of the Origin and Formation of Metalls and Minerals.”, in An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth: And Terrestrial Bodies, Especially Minerals: […], London: […] Ric[hard] Wilkin […], →OCLC, page 220:

        [T]he Pebles, Pyritæ, Amber, or other like Nodules, vvhich happened to be repoſed in thoſe Cliffs, amongſt the Earth ſo beaten dovvn, being hard, and not ſo diſſoluble, and likevviſe more bulky and ponderous, are left behind upon the Shores, being impeded, and ſecured, by that their bulk and vveight, from being born along vvith the Terreſtrial Matter into the Sea.

      • 1817 December (indicated as 1818), Percy B[ysshe] Shelley, “Canto Sixth”, in Laon and Cythna; or, The Revolution of the Golden City: A Vision of the Nineteenth Century. […], London: […] [F]or Sherwood, Neely, & Jones, […]; and C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier, […]; by B[uchanan] M‘Millan, […], →OCLC, stanza XXXIII, page 144:

        [H]er dark and deepening eyes, / Which, as twin phantoms of one star that lies / O'er a dim well, move, though the star reposes, / Swam in our mute and liquid ecstasies, […]

      • 1835, Alfred Tennyson, “Locksley Hall”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 93:

        When the centuries behind me like a fruitful land reposed; / When I clung to all the present for the promise that it closed: […]

repose (countable and uncountable, plural reposes)

1. (uncountable) Temporary cessation from activity to rest and recover, especially in the form of sleep; rest; (countable) an instance of this; a break, a rest; a sleep.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 6, page 445:

     So forth ſhe rode vvithout repoſe or reſt, / Searching all lands and each remoteſt part, […]

   • 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nash[e], The Tragedie of Dido Queene of Carthage: […], London: […] Widdowe Orwin, for Thomas Woodcocke, […], →OCLC, Act I, signature A3, recto:

     Content thee Cytherea [i.e., Aphrodite] in thy care, / Since thy Æneas vvandring fate is firme, / VVhoſe vvearie lims ſhall ſhortly make repoſe, / In thoſe faire vvalles I promiſt him of yore: […]

   • c. 1599 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], The History of Antonio and Mellida. The First Part. […], London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Mathewe Lownes, and Thomas Fisher, […], published 1602, →OCLC, Act I, signature C2, verso:

     My fathers Palace, Madam, vvill be proud / To entertaine your preſence, if youle daine / To make repoſe vvithin.

   • 1610, The Second Tome of the Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Lavrence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Wisdom 15:4–6, page 431:

     From him that vveareth hyacinth, and beareth the crovvne, euen to him, that is couered vvith rude linen: furie, enuie, tumult, vvauering, and the feare of death, anger perſeuering, and contention, and in time of repoſe in bed, the ſleepe of night changeth his knowledge.

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 9, column 1:

     VVhiles vve ſtood here ſecuring your repoſe, / (Euen novv) vve heard a hollovv burſt of bellovving / Like Buls, or rather Lyons, did't not vvake you? / It ſtrooke mine eare moſt terribly.

   • 1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 52, lines 660–664:

     The Country King his peaceful Realm enjoys: / Cool Grots, and living Lakes, the Flovv'ry Pride / Of Meads, and Streams that thro' the Valley glide; / And ſhady Groves that eaſie Sleep invite, / And after toilſome Days, a ſvveet Repoſe at Night.

   • 1771, [Tobias Smollett], “To Sir Watkin Phillips, Bar^t. of Jesus College, Oxon.”, in The Expedition of Humphry Clinker […], volume II, London: […] W. Johnston, […]; and B. Collins, […], →OCLC, page 29:

     [D]uring the heats of ſummer, he commonly took his repoſe upon a bulk, or indulged himſelf, in freſco, vvith one of the kennel-nymphs, under the portico of St. Martin's church.

   • 1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of Sleep and Hunger”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], new edition, volume II, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], →OCLC, page 125:

     If then it ſhould be aſked from vvhat cauſe this ſtate of repoſe proceeds, or in vvhat manner ſleep thus binds us for ſeveral hours together, I muſt fairly confeſs my ignorance, although it is eaſy to tell vvhat philoſophers ſay upon the ſubject.

   • 1830 June, Alfred Tennyson, “Song [A Spirit Haunts]”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, stanza II, page 39:

     The air is damp, and hush'd, and close, / As a sick man's room when he taketh repose / An hour before death; […]

   • 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave I. Marley’s Ghost.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 38:

     And being, from the emotion he [Ebenezer Scrooge] had undergone, or the fatigues of the day, or his glimpse of the Invisible World, or the dull conversation of the Ghost, or the lateness of the hour, much in need of repose; went straight to bed, without undressing, and fell asleep upon the instant.

   • 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn”, in The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, pages 148–149:

     Dark and deserted as it was, the night was full of small noises, song and chatter and rustling, telling of the busy little population who were up and about, plying their trades and vocations through the night till sunshine should fall on them at last and send them off to their well-earned repose.

   • 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter VI, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC, page 54:

     You would not rob us of our repose, would you, comrades? You would not have us too tired to carry out our duties?

   1. (by extension, Christianity)
      1. (uncountable) Of the Virgin Mary: death; also assumption into heaven.
      2. (countable, Eastern Orthodoxy) The festival honouring the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, celebrated on August 15.
2. (uncountable) The state of being peacefully inactive or relaxed, or being free from disturbances or worries; calmness, ease, peace, quietness.

   Synonyms: peace of mind; see also Thesaurus:calmness

   • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Of the Difference of Manners”, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Of Man), page 47:

     [T]he Felicity of this life, conſiſteth not in the repoſe of a mind ſatisfied.

   • 1710 March 25 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Richard Steele et al.], “Tuesday, March 14, 1709–10”, in The Tatler, number 145; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume II, London: I. Walker and Co.;  […], 1822, →OCLC, page 340:

     […] I am diverted from that subject by letters which I have received from several ladies, complaining of a certain sect of professed enemies to the repose of the fair sex, called Oglers.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1814, Dante Alighieri, “Canto X”, in H[enry] F[rancis] Cary, transl., The Vision; or, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, of Dante Alighieri. […], volume I (Hell), London: […] [J. Barfield] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 41, lines 93–95:

     "So may thy lineage find at last repose," / I thus adjur'd him, "as thou solve this knot," / Which now involves my mind.

   • 1916 December 29, James Joyce, chapter V, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC, page 288:

     The air of wealth and repose diffused about them seemed to comfort their neediness.

3. (uncountable) Calmness of the mind or temperament; composure.
   • 1815, Leigh Hunt, “[Translations, &c.] Song. (To the Air of ‘The De’il Came Fiddling through the Town.’).”, in The Feast of the Poets, […], 2nd edition, London: […] Gale and Fenner, […], →OCLC, page 172:

     But lord! she goes with so blithe a repose, / And comes so shapely about you, / That ere you're aware, with a glance and an air, / She whisks your heart from out you.

   • 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “Lady Clara Vere de Vere”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 157:

     She had the passions of her kind, / She spake some certain truths of you. / Indeed I heard one bitter word / That scarce is fit for you to hear. / Her manners had not that repose / Which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere.

   • 1860, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay IV. Culture.”, in The Conduct of Life, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 138:

     Repose and cheerfulness are the badge of the gentleman,—repose in energy. The Greek battle-pieces are calm; the heroes, in whatever violent actions engaged, retain a serene aspect; as we say of Niagara, that it falls without speed.

   • 1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “Podsnappery”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC, book the first (The Cup and the Lip), page 101:

     [T]here is in the Englishman a combination of qualities, a modesty, an independence, a responsibility, a repose, combined with an absence of everything calculated to call a blush into the cheek of a young person, which one would seek in vain among the Nations of the Earth.

4. (uncountable) Of the face, a muscle, etc.: the state of being relaxed and not in tension.
   • 1916 December 29, James Joyce, chapter I, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC, page 33:

     He has a handsome face, mind you, in repose.

5. (uncountable) The state of lying still and unmoving; calmness, tranquillity; (countable) an instance of this.
   • 1717, Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC, page 425:

     But o'er the tvvilight groves, and dusky caves, / Long-ſounding iſles, and intermingled graves, / Black Melancholy ſits, and round her throvvs / A death-like ſilence, and a dread repose: […]

   • 1819, John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza XXXVI, page 101:

     [H]e arose, / Ethereal, flush'd, and like a throbbing star / Seen mid the sapphire heaven's deep repose; […]

   • 1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “A Summer Night in a Norwegian Forest”, in H. L. Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 279:

     Over the whole landscape lay a repose and a peace so perfect that no one could have suspected the close proximity of the capital.

6. (uncountable, archaic) Relief or respite from something exhausting or unpleasant; (countable) an instance of this.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 28–30:

     O Sole in whom my thoughts find all repoſe, / My Glorie, my Perfection, glad I ſee / Thy face, […]

   • 1785, William Cowper, “Book I. The Sofa.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson;  […], →OCLC, page 1:

     I vvho lately ſang / Truth, Hope and Charity, and touch'd vvith avve / The ſolemn chords, and vvith a trembling hand, / Eſcap'd vvith pain from that advent'rous flight, / Novv ſeek repoſe upon an humbler theme; […]

   • 1821, Lord Byron, “The Two Foscari, an Historical Tragedy”, in Sardanapalus, a Tragedy; The Two Foscari, a Tragedy; Cain, a Mystery, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 204:

     'Tis almost / Thirty-four years of nearly ceaseless warfare / With the Turk, or the powers of Italy; / The state had need of some repose.

7. (uncountable, archaic) Confidence, faith, or trust in something.
8. (uncountable, architecture, art) The arrangement of elements of an artwork, a building, etc., that is restful and soothing to a viewer; harmony.
   • 1695, [Roger de Piles], “Observations on the Art of Painting of Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy”, in C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC, page 162:

     VVe are to take occaſion as much as poſſibly vve can, […] to find the repoſe of vvhich vve ſpeak, by the Light and by the Shadovv, vvhich naturally accompany ſolid Bodies.

9. (uncountable, chiefly chemistry) The state of leaving something alone or untouched; (countable) an instance of this.
10. (uncountable, engineering, physics) Chiefly in the form point of repose, position of repose, etc.: absence of motion; equilibrium; (countable) a position where an object is not moving and at rest.
11. (uncountable, chiefly geology) Of a natural phenomenon, especially the eruption of a volcano: the state of temporary cessation of activity; dormancy, quiescence.
    • 1755–1757 (date written), [Thomas] Gray, “Ode VI. The Bard. Pindaric.”, in The Poems of Mr. Gray. […], York, Yorkshire: […] A[nn] Ward; and sold by J[ames] Dodsley, […]; and J[ohn] Todd, […], published 1775, →OCLC, stanza II.2, page 31:

      VVhile proudly riding o'er the azure realm / In gallant trim the gilded Veſſel goes; / Youth on the provv, and Pleaſure at the helm; / Regardleſs of the ſvveeping VVhirlvvind's ſvvay, / That, huſh'd in grim repoſe, expects his evening-prey.

    • 1887, John Ruskin, “Cumæ”, in Præterita. Outlines of Scenes and Thoughts Perhaps Worthy of Memory in My Past Life, volume II, Orpington, Kent: George Allen, →OCLC, page 87:

      […] Vesuvius was virtually in repose, and the slow changes in the heaped white cloud above the crater were only like those of a thunder cloud.

12. (obsolete)
    1. (countable) A piece of furniture on which one can rest, especially a couch or sofa.
       • 1685, A[phra] B[ehn], “Silvia to Octavio”, in Love Letters from a Noble Man to His Sister: Mixt with the History of Their Adventures. The Second Part […], volume II, London: […] Randal Taylor, […], →OCLC, page 245:

         [S]he lay expecting her coming Lover, on a repoſe of rich Embroidery of Gold on blevv Sattin, […]

    2. (countable) A place of rest.
       • 1671, John Milton, “The Third Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 65, lines 209–210:

         [W]orſt is my Port, / My harbour and my ultimate repoſe, / The end I vvould attain, my final good.

    4. (painting, uncountable) The technique of including in a painting an area or areas which are dark, indistinct, or soft in tone so that other areas are more prominent, or so that a viewer can rest they eyes when looking at them; (countable) such an area of a painting.
       • 1695, [Roger de Piles], “Observations on the Art of Painting of Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy”, in C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC, pages 161–162:

         [A]fter the great Lights, there muſt be great Shadovvs, vvhich vve call repoſes: becauſe in reality the Sight vvould be tired, if it vvere attracted by a Continuity of glittering objects. […] Theſe repoſes are made tvvo ſeveral vvays, one of vvhich is Natural, the other Artificial. The Natural is made by an extent of Lights or of Shadovvs; vvhich naturally and neceſſarily follovv ſolid Bodies, or the Maſſes of ſolid Bodies aggroupp'd vvhen the Light ſtrikes upon them. And the Artificial conſiſts in the Bodies of Colours, vvhich the Painter gives to certain things, ſuch as pleaſes him; and compoſes them in ſuch a manner, that they do no injury to the objects vvhich are near them. A Drapery, for example, vvhich is made yellovv or red on ſome certain place, in another place may be brovvn, and vvill be more ſuitable to it, to produce the effect requir'd.

• altar of repose
• angle of repose
• repose in action
• statute of repose

From Middle English reposen (“to put (something) back, replace”),^[4] from re- (prefix meaning ‘again; back, backwards’)^[5] + posen (“to place (something)”),^[6] modelled after Latin repōnō (“to put back; to restore; to store”).^[7] Posen is derived from Old French poser (“to place, put”) (modern French poser), from Vulgar Latin pausāre, from Latin pausāre, the present active infinitive of pausō (see further at etymology 1), influenced by pōnere, the present active infinitive of pōnō (“to lay, place, put”).

repose (third-person singular simple present reposes, present participle reposing, simple past and past participle reposed)

1. (transitive) Senses relating to placing or positioning.
   1. To place (confidence, faith, or trust) in someone or something.
      • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iii:

        Now woorthy Tamburlaine, haue I repoſ'd, / In thy approoued Fortunes all my hope, / VVhat thinkſt thou man, ſhal come of our attempts?

      • 1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], Daphnaïda. An Elegy upon the Death of the Noble and Vertuous Douglas Howard,Daughter and Heire of Henry Lord Howard, Viscount Byndon, and Wife of Arthure Gorges Esquier. […], London: […] [Thomas Orwin] for William Ponsonby, […], →OCLC, signature B, verso:

        Long thus I ioyed in my happineſſe, / And vvell did hope my ioy vvoud haue no end: / But oh fond man, that in vvorlds fickleneſſe / Repoſeſt hope, or vveenedſt her thy frend, / That glories moſt in mortall miſeries, / And daylie doth her changefull counſels bend: / To make nevv matter fit for Tragedies.

      • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv], signature E3, verso:

        Stay yet another day, thou truſtie VVelchman. / The king repoſeth all his confidence in thee.

      • 1629, Thycydides, “The First Booke”, in Thomas Hobbes, transl., Eight Bookes of the Peloponnesian Warre […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Richard Mynne […], published 1634, →OCLC, page 52:

        In reuerence therefore of the hopes vvhich the Grecians haue repoſed in you, and of the preſence of Iupiter Olympius, in vvhoſe Temple here, vve are in a manner ſuppliants to you, receiue the Mitylenians into league, and ayde vs.

      • 1844, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter II, in Coningsby; or, The New Generation. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book VII, page 100:

        [T]here is something to be considered beyond forms of government—national character. And herein mainly should we repose our hopes. If a nation be led to aim at the good and the great, depend upon it, whatever be its form, the government will respond to its convictions and its sentiments.

   2. (chiefly passive voice) Followed by in: to entrust (duty, power, etc.) in someone; to confide.
      • 1838, William H[ickling] Prescott, “Conquest of Navarre. 1512–1513.”, in History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic. […], volume III, Boston, Mass.: American Stationers’ Company; John B. Russell, →OCLC, 2nd part (1493–1517), page 354:

        His greatest defect was the facility with which he reposed the cares of state on favorites, not always the most deserving.

   3. (archaic) To place (something), especially for safekeeping or storage; to deposit, to keep safe, to store.
      • 1589, Thomas Cooper, “Proofes out of the Newe Testament against the Rich Liuings of Bishops”, in An Admonition to the People of England: Against Martin Mar-Prelate, London: John Petheram, […], published 1847, →OCLC, page 171:

        When Christ affirmeth, that "where a mans treasure is, there is his heart:" by treasure, he meaneth not the possession of riches simply, but hee meaneth that, wherein a man reposeth his chiefe treasure and felicitie to consist. […] He that reposeth his felicitie in building, giueth ouer his cogitations vnto that.

      • 1605, Francis Bacon, “The Second Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC, folio 2, verso:

        […] Libraries, […] are as the Shrynes, vvhere all the Reliques of the ancient Saints, full of true vertue, and that vvithout deluſion or impoſture, are preſerued, and repoſed; […]

      • 1614–1615, Homer, “The Thirteenth Book of Homer’s Odysseys”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume II, London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC, page 19, lines 545–547:

        But these thy fortunes let us straight repose / In this divine cave's bosom, that may close / Reserve their value; […]

        The spelling has been modernized.

      • 1827, [Walter Scott], chapter V, in The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte, Emperor of the French. […], volume VIII, Edinburgh: […] Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, […]; and Cadell & Co., […], →OCLC, page 113:

        The sword was now brandished, not to be sheathed or reposed, until the one party or the other should be irretrievably defeated.

   4. (obsolete) To regard (something) as being embodied in another thing; to ascribe, to attribute.
      • 1561 May 16 (Gregorian calendar), Ihon Caluin [i.e., John Calvin], “Of Vowes, by Rash Promising wherof Eche Man hath Miserably Entangled Himselfe”, in [Thomas Norton], transl., The Institution of Christian Religion, […], London: […] Reinolde [i.e., Reginald?] Wolfe & Richarde Harison, →OCLC, 4th book, folio 89, recto:

        […] Paule ſayth that the widowes which hauing ben ones receiued into the Publike miniſterie did marrye, denyed their firſt fayth. But I doe not denie to them, that the widowes, whiche bounde themſelues and their ſeruices to the Chirch, did therewithall take vpon them the bonde of cõtinuall vnmaried life: not becauſe they repoſed any religion therin as it afterward began to be vſed: but becauſe they could not beare that office but beeing at their own libertie and looſe from yoke of mariage.

      • 1614, Samuel Purchas, “[Asia.] A Continuation of the Former Discourse Touching the Religions of Iapon.”, in Purchas His Pilgrimage. Or Relations of the World and the Religions Observed in All Ages and Places Discouered, from the Creation vnto this Present. […], 2nd edition, London: […] William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, […], →OCLC, book V (Of the East-Indies, and of the Seas and Ilands about Asia, with Their Religions), page 529:

        [A] certaine Bonzi, […] did giue them a certaine booke to kiſſe, and laid it on their heads, vvherein they repoſed much holiness, and vvorſhipped it as a god: […]

   5. (obsolete, rare) To establish or institute (something); to found.
      • 1582, Virgil, “The Firste Booke of Virgil His Aeneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC; republished as The First Four Books of the Æneid of Virgil, […], Edinburgh: [Edinburgh Printing Company], 1836, →OCLC, page 2:

        A long buylt citty there ſtood, Carthago ſo named, / From the mouth of Tybris, from land eke of Italie ſeauer'd, / Poſſeſt wyth Tyrians, in ſtrength and riches abounding, / There Iuno the princes her empyre wholye repoſed, […]

   6. (obsolete, rare) To throw (something); to cast.
      • 1582, Virgil, “The Firste Booke of Virgil His Aeneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC; republished as The First Four Books of the Æneid of Virgil, […], Edinburgh: [Edinburgh Printing Company], 1836, →OCLC, page 5:

        [T]hee ſouthwynd merciles eager / Three gallant veſſels on rocks gnawne craggye repoſed.

2. (transitive) Senses relating to returning.
   1. (surgery) To put (a body part) back in its usual location; to reposition.
   2. (obsolete) To forcefully restrain (something); to repress, to suppress.
      • 1652, Alexander Giraffi [i.e., Alessandro Giraffi], “A Compendium of the Sublevations and Turmoils which Happen’d in the City, and among the People of Cosenza”, in James Howell, transl., An Exact History of the Late Revolutions in Naples; […], revised edition, London: […] R[ichard] Lowndes […], published 1663, →OCLC, part II (The Second Part of Massaniello, […]), page 26:

        [A] multitude of common People gather'd together in Bands that very Sunday-morning, all armed vvith a full and furious purpoſe to repoſe the Inſolence and Pride of the Nobility, vvho had reduced the common people to ſuch a paſs that they could hardly live by them.

   3. (obsolete) To return (something) to a particular place; to put back, to replace.
   4. (obsolete, rare, chiefly Scotland) To restore (someone) to a position or rank formerly held; to reinstate.
3. (intransitive) Of a thing: to be in the management or power of a person or an organization.

From re- +‎ pose.

repose (third-person singular simple present reposes, present participle reposing, simple past and past participle reposed)

1. (transitive, reflexive) To pose (oneself or someone, or something) again.

• “repose”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “repose”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “repose”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “repose”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

repose

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of reposar

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.poz/

• Audio:

  (file)

repose

1. inflection of reposer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

• repos

• opères, opérés

repose

1. inflection of reposar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative