repose

1 of 3

noun

1
a
: a state of resting after exertion or strain
especially : rest in sleep
b
: eternal or heavenly rest
pray for the repose of a soul
2
a
: a place of rest
b
: peace, tranquility
the repose of the bayous
c
: a harmony in the arrangement of parts and colors that is restful to the eye
3
a
: lack of activity : quiescence
b
: cessation or absence of activity, movement, or animation
the face in repose is grave and thoughtful
4
: composure of manner : poise

repose

2 of 3

verb (1)

re·​pose ri-ˈpōz How to pronounce repose (audio)
reposed; reposing

transitive verb

: to lay at rest

intransitive verb

1
a
: to lie at rest
b
: to lie dead
reposing in state
c
: to remain still or concealed
2
: to take a rest
3
: to rest for support : lie
4
archaic : rely

repose

3 of 3

verb (2)

re·​pose
reposed; reposing

transitive verb

1
a
: to place (confidence, trust, etc.) in someone or something
b
: to place for control, management, or use
2
archaic : to put away or set down : deposit

Examples of repose in a Sentence

Noun typically the wealthy socialite spends most of the morning in repose, is served lunch, and then embarks on an exhaustive afternoon of shopping enjoyed the repose of a serene summer evening
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Amid the hotel's landmark collection of contemporary African art, this work commands a moment of repose and wonder. Sarah Khan, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Feb. 2024 Archdiocese attorneys contend the General Assembly can’t change a statute of repose, and say lawmakers’ attempt to do so violates Maryland’s constitution. Alex Mann, Baltimore Sun, 10 Jan. 2024 Teachers, nurses, accountants and soldiers crammed into shuttle buses outside St. Luke’s Episcopal Church that ferried people to the repose site at the Carter Center for four straight hours. Danielle Paquette, Washington Post, 28 Nov. 2023 Please join Archbishop George Lucas in prayer for the repose of Father Gutgsell, for his family and for the St. John the Baptist parish community in this tragic time. Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 11 Dec. 2023 In a city of strivers ricocheting around in congested isolation, the park is an island of repose, a place where lives intersect and time slows. Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 25 Nov. 2023 The exhibition, on view at 20 Cooper Square through October 22nd, features Black people in various states of repose (as well as unpopulated interiors and landscapes), from New York to Pujehun, Sierra Leone. Emily Lordi, The New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2023 Toward the end of the eighteen-sixties, Degas began to paint a double portrait: Manet reclining on his sofa, his wife, Suzanne, playing the piano—the spitting image of cozy bourgeois repose. Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2023 The dense stand of young trees at the back of my lot offers no such repose. Bill Finch, al, 20 July 2023
Verb
The artist, whose portraits explore leisure and repose, has suddenly found success in the notoriously fickle gallery world. M.h. Miller, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2024 In a sense, almost all of Manet’s and Degas’s best work is about repose, the glorious right of the nineteenth-century French bourgeoisie and the seed from which a thousand entertainments sprouted: gardens, promenades, dances, horse races, picnics, prostitutes, bars. Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2023 An orangutan swings through while her baby reposes on a branch nearby. Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2023 But Biltmore’s principal, 375-foot-wide east-facing elevation, with its six-inch revetment of Indiana limestone, strikes a masterly equipoise between upwardly thrusting verticals and a controlling horizontality that endows the house with a superb synthesis of movement and repose. Catesby Leigh, WSJ, 11 Mar. 2022 At that moment, the camera reached the last plate, upon which reposed Bunky. Anne Fadiman, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Feb. 2023 Answers repose after each cluster of questions. Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 July 2022 Some deconstructed skeletons, not all human, repose in front of the theater seats; a pair of nooses hung stage right, evidence perhaps of lynching. Jeffrey Gantz, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Mar. 2023 Although, based on their various states of repose around a woodstove, our six English setters and two Labradors give the impression that a day off is not too much of an imposition. Christine Cunningham, Anchorage Daily News, 20 Nov. 2021
Verb
Some deconstructed skeletons, not all human, repose in front of the theater seats; a pair of nooses hung stage right, evidence perhaps of lynching. Jeffrey Gantz, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Mar. 2023 At that moment, the camera reached the last plate, upon which reposed Bunky. Anne Fadiman, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Feb. 2023 Answers repose after each cluster of questions. Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 July 2022 Although, based on their various states of repose around a woodstove, our six English setters and two Labradors give the impression that a day off is not too much of an imposition. Christine Cunningham, Anchorage Daily News, 20 Nov. 2021 The hour had come to repose the Blessed Sacrament, to move it from exposition to rest. New York Times, 26 June 2021 Vincenzo Anastagi, in field armor—the forty-four-year-old sergeant major of Castel Sant’Angelo seen in momentary repose in El Greco’s swagger portrait—commands the room with his suspicious, unflinching gaze. Colin B. Bailey, The New York Review of Books, 27 Apr. 2021 Explore the many natural beauties of the state that repose in its parks, beaches and mountains. WSJ, 13 Apr. 2021 Ojih Odutola's ability to capture movement and repose felt symbolic. Osayi Endolyn, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 May 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'repose.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

Middle English, from Anglo-French reposer, from Late Latin repausare, from Latin re- + Late Latin pausare to stop, from Latin pausa pause

Verb (2)

Middle English, to replace, from Latin reponere (perfect indicative reposui)

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of repose was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near repose

Cite this Entry

“Repose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/repose. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

repose

1 of 3 verb
re·​pose ri-ˈpōz How to pronounce repose (audio)
reposed; reposing
1
: to lay at rest
reposed her head on a cushion
2
: to lie at rest
reposing on the couch

repose

2 of 3 noun
1
: a state of resting after effort or strain
especially : rest in sleep
2
: freedom from disturbance or excitement : calm
the repose of the forest
3
: absence or stopping of activity or movement
a face in repose

repose

3 of 3 verb
re·​pose
reposed; reposing
1
: to place (as trust or confidence) in someone or something
2
: to place for control, management, or use
Etymology

Verb

Middle English reposen "to lay at rest," from early French reposer (same meaning), from Latin repausare (same meaning), from earlier re- "back, again" and pausare "to stop," from Latin pausa "a pause" — related to pause

Verb

Middle English reposen "to replace," from Latin reponere "replace"

More from Merriam-Webster on repose

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