repose

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

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

   • The Sea-god Glaucus […] Repoſd his head vpon my faintfull knée: […]
   • I could mock the ſultry Toil, / VVhen on my Charmer's Breaſt repos'd.
   • 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; […]
2. 2

   To rest (oneself), especially by going to sleep.

   • Now may I repoſe me; Cuſtance is mine owne.
   • In peace and honour reſt you here my ſonnes, / Roomes readieſt Champions, repoſe you here in reſt, / Secure from vvorldly chaunces and miſhaps: […]
   • [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. 3

   Followed by from or (obsolete) of

   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.

   • [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.
   • [S]he begged I vvould retire into a chamber, and repoſe myſelf from the uncommon fatigues I muſt have undergone; […]
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   1. 4

      To give (someone) rest

      To give (someone) rest; to refresh (someone) by giving rest.

      • [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?
      • 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?
      • On the twentieth of June he [Johann de Kalb] entered North Carolina, and halted at Hillsborough to repose his wayworn soldiers.
   2. 5

      To cause (oneself) to have faith in or rely on someone or something.

      • That he conſents, if VVarvvicke yeeld conſent, / For on thy fortune I repoſe my ſelfe.
      • I come to your houſe; I riſk my life; I paſs it in ennui; I repoſe myſelf on your fidelity; […]
   3. 6

      To give (someone) accommodation for the night.

   4. 7

      To lean or recline, sit down, or lie down to rest

      To lean or recline, sit down, or lie down to rest; to rest.

      • If you be pleas'd, retire into my Cell, / And there repoſe, a turne or tvvo, […]
      • [H]is right Cheeke / Repoſing on a Cuſhion.
   5. 8

      Followed by on or upon

      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
      • 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.
   6. 9

      To cease activity to rest or recover

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

      • 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.
      • 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. 10

      To have faith in

      To have faith in; to confide, to trust.

      • I do deſire thy vvorthy company, / Vpon vvhoſe faith and honor, I repoſe.
      • 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.
      • 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. 11

      To lie still and unmoving.

      • [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, […]
      • When the centuries behind me like a fruitful land reposed; / When I clung to all the present for the promise that it closed: […]
   9. 12

      Temporary cessation from activity to rest and recover, especially in the form of sleep

      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.

      • So forth ſhe rode vvithout repoſe or reſt, / Searching all lands and each remoteſt part, […]
      • 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: […]
      • My fathers Palace, Madam, vvill be proud / To entertaine your preſence, if youle daine / To make repoſe vvithin.
   10. 13

       The state of being peacefully inactive or relaxed, or being free from disturbances or…

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

       • [T]he Felicity of this life, conſiſteth not in the repoſe of a mind ſatisfied.
       • […] 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.
       • "So may thy lineage find at last repose," / I thus adjur'd him, "as thou solve this knot," / Which now involves my mind.
   11. 14

       Calmness of the mind or temperament

       Calmness of the mind or temperament; composure.

       • 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.
       • 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.
       • 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.
   12. 15

       Of the face, a muscle, etc.

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

       • In repose the faces of the men were intelligent and dignified, those of the women ofttimes prepossessing.
       • He has a handsome face, mind you, in repose.
   13. 16

       The state of lying still and unmoving

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

       • 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: […]
       • [H]e arose, / Ethereal, flush'd, and like a throbbing star / Seen mid the sapphire heaven's deep repose; […]
       • Over the whole landscape lay a repose and a peace so perfect that no one could have suspected the close proximity of the capital.
   14. 17

       Relief or respite from something exhausting or unpleasant

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

       • O Sole in whom my thoughts find all repoſe, / My Glorie, my Perfection, glad I ſee / Thy face, […]
       • 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; […]
       • 'Tis almost / Thirty-four years of nearly ceaseless warfare / With the Turk, or the powers of Italy; / The state had need of some repose.
   15. 18

       Confidence, faith, or trust in something.

   16. 19

       The arrangement of elements of an artwork, a building, etc., that is restful and soothing…

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

       • 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.
   17. 20

       The state of leaving something alone or untouched

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

   18. 21

       Chiefly in the form point of repose, position of repose, etc.

       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.

   19. 22

       Of a natural phenomenon, especially the eruption of a volcano

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

       • […] 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.
   20. 23

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

       • [S]he lay expecting her coming Lover, on a repoſe of rich Embroidery of Gold on blevv Sattin, […]
   21. 24

       A place of rest.

       • [W]orſt is my Port, / My harbour and my ultimate repoſe, / The end I vvould attain, my final good.
   22. 25

       The technique of including in a painting an area or areas which are dark, indistinct, or…

       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.

   23. 26

       Senses relating to placing or positioning.

       • Now woorthy Tamburlaine, haue I repoſ'd, / In thy approoued Fortunes all my hope, / VVhat thinkſt thou man, ſhal come of our attempts?
       • Stay yet another day, thou truſtie VVelchman. / The king repoſeth all his confidence in thee.
   24. 27

       Senses relating to returning.

   25. 28

       Of a thing

       Of a thing: to be in the management or power of a person or an organization.

   26. 29

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

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