repose

Etymology 1

From Middle English reposen (“to be at rest”), from Middle French reposer from Old French repauser from Late Latin repausō (“to lay to rest, quiet; comfort, soothe; lie down, be at rest, rest”), from re- (“again, back”) + pausō (“to halt, cease, pause, rest”), from Latin pausa (“pause, halt, stop, rest”) from Koine Greek παῦσις (paûsis, “stopping, ceasing; pause”) from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, “to make to rest; cease, stop, hinder, halt”).

noun

1. (dated) Rest; sleep.
   Great trauail is created to al men, and an heauie yoke vpon the children of Adam, from the day of their comming forth of their mothers wombe, vntil the day of their burying, into the mother of al. Their cogitations, and feares of the hart, imagination of things to come, and the day of their ending: from him that ſitteth vpon the glorious ſeate, vnto him that is humbled in earth & aſhes. From him that weareth hyacinth, and beareth the crowne, euen to him that is couered with rude linen: furie, enuie, tumult, wauering, and the feare of death, anger perſeuering, and contention, and in time of repoſe in bed, the ſleepe of night changeth his knowledge. A litle is as nothing in reſt, and afterward in ſleepe, as in the day of watch. He is troubled in the viſion of his hart, as he that hath eſcaped in the day of battel. In the time of his ſafetie he roſe vp, and merueleth at no feare: with al fleſh, from man euen to beaſt, and vpon ſinners ſeuenfold. Beſides theſe things, death, bloud, contention, and ſword, oppreſſions, famine, and contrition, and ſcourges: for the wicked al theſe were created, and for them the floud was made. Al things that are of the earth, ſhal turne into the earth, and al waters ſhal returne into the ſea. 1582 – 1610, Douay Rheims Bible, Book of Ecclesiasticus (Wisdom of Sirach) XL.1–11
2. quietness; ease; peace; calmness.
   So may thy lineage find at last repose I thus adjured him c. 1805, Henry Francis Cary (translator), Dante, Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto 10
   Over the whole landscape lay a repose and a peace so perfect that no one could have suspected the close proximity of the capital. 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 279
3. (geology) The period between eruptions of a volcano.
4. (art) A form of visual harmony that gives rest to the eye.

verb

1. (intransitive) To lie at rest; to rest.
2. (intransitive) To lie; to be supported.
   trap reposing on sand
3. (transitive) To lay, to set down.
4. (transitive) To place, have, or rest; to set; to entrust.
5. (transitive) To compose; to make tranquil.
6. (intransitive) To reside in something.
7. (intransitive, figurative) To remain or abide restfully without anxiety or alarms.
8. (intransitive, Eastern Orthodox Church) To die, especially of a saint.
   Simon reposed in the year 1287.

Etymology 2

re- + pose

verb

1. (transitive) To pose again.