different between retreat vs desist

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English retret, from Old French retrait or retret, from Latin retractus, from retraho. Doublet of retract.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???t?i?t/
• Rhymes: -i?t

Noun

retreat (plural retreats)

1. The act of pulling back or withdrawing, as from something dangerous, or unpleasant.
2. The act of reversing direction and receding from a forward position.
3. A peaceful, quiet place affording privacy or security.
   • 1692, Roger L'Estrange, "Fable 100: An Old Man and a Lion", Fables of Aesop, page 115

     ... he built his son a house of pleasure, on purpose to keep him out of harm's way; and spared neither art nor cost to make it a delicious retreat.

   • That pleasing shade they sought, a soft retreat / From sudden April showers, a shelter from the heat.

4. (rare and obsolete, euphemistic) A peaceful, quiet place in which to urinate and defecate: an outhouse; a lavatory.
5. A period of retirement, seclusion, or solitude.

6. A period of meditation, prayer or study.
7. Withdrawal by military force from a dangerous position or from enemy attack.

8. A signal for a military withdrawal.
9. A bugle call or drumbeat signaling the lowering of the flag at sunset, as on a military base.
10. A military ceremony to lower the flag.
11. (chess) The move of a piece from a threatened position.

Related terms

• retract

Translations

Verb

retreat (third-person singular simple present retreats, present participle retreating, simple past and past participle retreated) (intransitive)

1. To withdraw from a position, go back.
   1. To withdraw militar forces

2. (of a glacier) To shrink back due to generally warmer temperatures.
3. To slope back.

   a retreating forehead

Translations

Etymology 2

re- +? treat

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?i??t?i?t/
• Rhymes: -i?t

Verb

retreat (third-person singular simple present retreats, present participle retreating, simple past and past participle retreated)

1. Alternative spelling of re-treat

Further reading

• Retreat in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• treater, tree rat

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English retreat. Doublet of retrett.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /r??tri?t/

Noun

retreat m (definite singular retreaten, indefinite plural retreater, definite plural retreatene)

1. a period of meditation, prayer or study; retreat
2. a location for such activities

Usage notes

• Prior to the 2005 spelling reform, this noun was considered grammatically neuter.

References

• “retreat” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “retreat” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English retreat. Doublet of retrett.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /r??tri?t/ (example of pronunciation)

Noun

retreat m (definite singular retreaten, indefinite plural retreatar, definite plural retreatane)

1. a period of meditation, prayer or study; retreat
2. a location for such activities

Usage notes

• Prior to a revision made alongside the 2005 Bokmål spelling reform, this noun was considered grammatically neuter.

References

• “retreat” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

English

Etymology

From Middle French desister.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??s?st/, /d??z?st/
• Rhymes: -?st

Verb

desist (third-person singular simple present desists, present participle desisting, simple past and past participle desisted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To cease to proceed or act; to stop (often with from).
   • 1921, Annual Report of the Federal Trade Commission, page 173:

     After hearing[,] an order was entered requiring respondent to cease and desist the practice complained of under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission act.

   • 2005, Gerry Shishin Wick, The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans, Simon and Schuster (?ISBN), page 307:

     Desist the kind of thinking that gets you into trouble. Thinking is in itself fine, but grabbing onto thoughts and images of your self will bring you suffering. Once you learn how to desist, how to let go of your ego-grasping mind, then cease thinking ...

Derived terms

Related terms

• cease and desist

Translations

Anagrams

• Deists, deists, deïsts, sisted