surcease
/ˈsɝˌsis/noun, verb
surcease is spelled S-U-R-C-E-A-S-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 38 million words in written English, the 189,524th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, surcease means “Cessation; stop, stopping; end. Respite, intermission” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of surcease is surceases.
How many letters and syllables are in surcease?
| Letters | 8: S-U-R-C-E-A-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 38 million words; the 189,524th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is surcease?
Surcease appears about once in every 38 million words in written English, the 189,524th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce surcease?
- UK /səˈsiːs/
- UK /ˈsɜːˌsiːs/
- US /ˈsɝˌsis/
Surcease has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-surcease.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of surcease
- surceases plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- surceasing participle, present
- surceased participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does surcease mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Cessation; stop, stopping; end. Respite, intermission.
verb
- 1
To come to an end; to desist.
- 2
To bring to an end.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does surcease come from?
From Anglo-Norman surseser, from Old French sursis, past participle of surseoir, from Latin supersedēre. Spelling later influenced by association with unrelated cease, which likely also influenced the meaning. Related to supersede.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).