different between intermit vs hesitate

English

Etymology

From Latin intermittere, from inter- + mittere.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?nt??m?t/
  • (UK)
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?nt??m?t/

Verb

intermit (third-person singular simple present intermits, present participle intermitting, simple past and past participle intermitted)

1. (transitive, now rare) To interrupt, to stop or cease temporarily or periodically; to suspend.

   • Idleness […] of body is nothing but a kind of of benumbing laziness, intermitting exercise, which, if we may believe Fernelius, “[…] makes them unapt to do anything whatever.”

Derived terms

• intermittence
• intermittency
• intermittent

Related terms

• intermission
• mission

English

Alternative forms

• hæsitate (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin haesitatus, past participle ofhaesitare, intensive of haerere (“to hesitate, stick fast;to hang or hold fast”). Compare aghast, gaze, adhere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?h?z?te?t/

Verb

hesitate (third-person singular simple present hesitates, present participle hesitating, simple past and past participle hesitated)

1. (intransitive) To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination.
   • September 1, 1742, Alexander Pope, letter to Racine

     I shall not hesitate to declare myself very cordially, in regard to some particulars about which you have desired an answer.

2. (intransitive) To stammer; to falter in speaking.
3. (transitive, poetic, rare) To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.
   • a. 1724, Alexander Pope, The Ms. at Longleat

     Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• (to stop respecting decision or action): demur, falter, mammer, scruple, waver; see also Thesaurus:hesitate
• (to falter in speaking): balbucinate, balbutiate, falter, hem, haw, stammer, stutter
• (to utter with hesitation): falter

Derived terms

• hesitant
• hesitation

Translations

Further reading

• hesitate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• hesitate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• hesitate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• athetise, hatesite