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pause (n.)

early 15c., "a delay, a temporary rest in singing or speaking," from Old French pausee "a pause, interruption" (14c.) and directly from Latin pausa "a halt, stop, cessation," from Greek pausis "stopping, ceasing," from pauein "to stop (trans.), hold back, arrest, to cause to cease," a word of uncertain etymology with no certain cognates outside Greek [Beekes]. Later also "a hesitation proceeding from doubt or uncertainty;" hence to give (one) pause "cause to stop or hesitate" (c. 1600).

pause (v.)

"make a temporary stop or intermission," 1520s, from pause (n.) and from Middle French pauser, from Late Latin pausare "to halt, cease, pause," ultimately from Late Latin pausa. Related: Paused; pausing.

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Definitions of pause from WordNet
1
pause (v.)
interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing;
The speaker paused
Synonyms: hesitate
pause (v.)
cease an action temporarily;
We pause for station identification
Synonyms: intermit / break
2
pause (n.)
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something;
pause (n.)
temporary inactivity;
From wordnet.princeton.edu