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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

repose.

To lay (someone, or part of their body) down to rest.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ɹɪˈpəʊz/Received-Pronunciation/ɹəˈpoʊz/General-American/ɹi-/General-American
  1. To lay (someone, or part of their body) down to rest.

    also · archaic · figuratively · transitive
  2. To rest (oneself), especially by going to sleep.

    archaic · reflexive · transitive
  3. 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.

    archaic · reflexive · transitive
  4. To give (someone) rest; to refresh (someone) by giving rest.

    also · figuratively · obsolete · transitive
  5. To cause (oneself) to have faith in or rely on someone or something.

    obsolete · reflexive · transitive
  6. To give (someone) accommodation for the night.

    obsolete · rare · transitive
  7. To lean or recline, sit down, or lie down to rest; to rest.

    also · figuratively · intransitive
  8. To lean or recline, sit down, or lie down to rest; to rest. To die, to rest in peace.

    also · figuratively · intransitive
    Simon reposed in the year 1287.
  9. 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.

    intransitive
    a trap reposing on sand
  10. 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.

    intransitive
  11. Followed by on or upon: to be based on; to depend or rely on.

    intransitive
  12. To cease activity to rest or recover; also, to have a period free from activity or disturbance.

    also · archaic · figuratively · intransitive
  13. To have faith in; to confide, to trust.

    intransitive · obsolete
  14. To lie still and unmoving.

    intransitive · literary · obsolete · poetic
Where this word comes from

The verb is derived from Middle English reposen (“to rest”), 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”) (from pausa (“a halt, stop; a pause; an end”), from Ancient Greek παῦσῐς (paûsĭs, “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 (-sĭs, 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). Noun etymology 1, 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. Cognates Catalan reposar (verb), repòs (noun) Italian riposare (verb), riposo (noun) Old Occitan repausar, repauzar (verb), repaus (noun) Portuguese repousar (verb), repouso (noun) Spanish reposar (verb), reposo (noun)

noun/ɹɪˈpəʊz/Received-Pronunciation/ɹəˈpoʊz/General-American/ɹi-/General-American
  1. 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.

    uncountable
  2. 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. Of the Virgin Mary: death; also assumption into heaven.

    broadly · uncountable
  3. 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. The festival honouring the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, celebrated on August 15.

    broadly · countable
  4. The state of being peacefully inactive or relaxed, or being free from disturbances or worries; calmness, ease, peace, quietness.

    uncountable
  5. Calmness of the mind or temperament; composure.

    uncountable
  6. Of the face, a muscle, etc.: the state of being relaxed and not in tension.

    uncountable
  7. The state of lying still and unmoving; calmness, tranquillity; (countable) an instance of this.

    uncountable
  8. Relief or respite from something exhausting or unpleasant; (countable) an instance of this.

    archaic · uncountable
  9. Confidence, faith, or trust in something.

    archaic · uncountable
  10. The arrangement of elements of an artwork, a building, etc., that is restful and soothing to a viewer; harmony.

    uncountable
  11. The state of leaving something alone or untouched; (countable) an instance of this.

    uncountable
  12. 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.

    uncountable
  13. Of a natural phenomenon, especially the eruption of a volcano: the state of temporary cessation of activity; dormancy, quiescence.

    uncountable
  14. A piece of furniture on which one can rest, especially a couch or sofa.

    countable · obsolete
  15. A place of rest.

    countable · obsolete
  16. 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.

    obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

The verb is derived from Middle English reposen (“to rest”), 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”) (from pausa (“a halt, stop; a pause; an end”), from Ancient Greek παῦσῐς (paûsĭs, “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 (-sĭs, 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). Noun etymology 1, 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. Cognates Catalan reposar (verb), repòs (noun) Italian riposare (verb), riposo (noun) Old Occitan repausar, repauzar (verb), repaus (noun) Portuguese repousar (verb), repouso (noun) Spanish reposar (verb), reposo (noun)

verb
  1. Senses relating to placing or positioning. To place (confidence, faith, or trust) in someone or something.

    transitive
  2. Senses relating to placing or positioning. Followed by in: to entrust (duty, power, etc.) in someone; to confide.

    transitive
  3. Senses relating to placing or positioning. To place (something), especially for safekeeping or storage; to deposit, to keep safe, to store.

    archaic · transitive
  4. Senses relating to placing or positioning. To regard (something) as being embodied in another thing; to ascribe, to attribute.

    obsolete · transitive
  5. Senses relating to placing or positioning. To establish or institute (something); to found.

    obsolete · rare · transitive
  6. Senses relating to placing or positioning. To throw (something); to cast.

    obsolete · rare · transitive
  7. Senses relating to returning. To put (a body part) back in its usual location; to reposition.

    transitive
  8. Senses relating to returning. To forcefully restrain (something); to repress, to suppress.

    obsolete · transitive
  9. Senses relating to returning. To return (something) to a particular place; to put back, to replace.

    obsolete · transitive
  10. Senses relating to returning. To restore (someone) to a position or rank formerly held; to reinstate.

    Scotland · obsolete · rare · transitive
  11. Of a thing: to be in the management or power of a person or an organization.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English reposen (“to put (something) back, replace”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again; back, backwards’) + posen (“to place (something)”), modelled after Latin repōnō (“to put back; to restore; to store”). 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”).

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

    reflexive · transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re-der. Old French re-bor. Middle English re- English re- English pose English repose From re- + pose.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.