repose

verb

1. (also, archaic, figuratively, transitive)To lay (someone, or part of their body) down to rest.

   “The Sea-god Glaucus […] Repoſd his head vpon my faintfull knée: […]”

   “I could mock the ſultry Toil, / VVhen on my Charmer's Breaſt repos'd.”

   “VVha's ain dear laſs, that he likes beſt, / Comes clinkin dovvn beſide him! / VVi' arm repos'd on the chair-back, / He ſvveetly does compoſe him; […]”

   “A hundred times hast thou said, when, wearied with thy labours and oppressed by thy troubles, thou reposedst thy head familiarly on my breast, 'Would that I could die in this bosom!'”

   “[T]he eyes clos'd— / The lashes on the cheeks repos'd.”

2. (archaic, reflexive, transitive)To rest (oneself), especially by going to sleep.

   “Now may I repoſe me; Cuſtance is mine owne.”

   “In peace and honour reſt you here my ſonnes, / Roomes readieſt Champions, repoſe you here in reſt, / Secure from vvorldly chaunces and miſhaps: […]”

   “[T]he great Creator hath likevviſe ſignalized his Care and Skill, by giving Animals an architectonick Faculty, to build themſelves convenient places of Retirement, in vvhich to repoſe and ſecure themſelves, and to nurſe up their Young.”

3. (archaic, reflexive, transitive)Followed by from or (obsolete) of: to cause (oneself) to take a rest from some activity; also, to allow (oneself) to recover from some activity.

   “[A]lthough they ſeme as holidaymenne, to repoſe theymſelfes from all corporall buſineſſe: yet they dooe more good then the others, becauſe they doe the thyng moſt chiefly requiſite to be doen.”

   “[S]he begged I vvould retire into a chamber, and repoſe myſelf from the uncommon fatigues I muſt have undergone; […]”

4. (also, figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To give (someone) rest; to refresh (someone) by giving rest.

   “[H]ave ye chos'n this place / After the toyl of Battel to repoſe / Your wearied vertue, for the eaſe you find / To ſlumber here, as in the Vales of Heav'n?”

   “VVhoſe Cauſe-vvay parts the vale vvith ſhady rovvs? / VVhoſe ſeats the vveary Traveller repoſe? / VVho feeds yon Alms-houſe, neat, but void of ſtate, / VVhere Age and VVant ſit ſmiling at the gate?”

   “On the twentieth of June he [Johann de Kalb] entered North Carolina, and halted at Hillsborough to repose his wayworn soldiers.”

   “[D]istant banks of purple mist coloured the liquid plain with a cool green-blue, a celadon tint that reposed the eye and the brain.”

5. (obsolete, reflexive, transitive)To cause (oneself) to have faith in or rely on someone or something.

   “That he conſents, if VVarvvicke yeeld conſent, / For on thy fortune I repoſe my ſelfe.”

   “I come to your houſe; I riſk my life; I paſs it in ennui; I repoſe myſelf on your fidelity; […]”

6. (obsolete, rare, transitive)To give (someone) accommodation for the night.
7. (also, figuratively, intransitive)To lean or recline, sit down, or lie down to rest; to rest.

   “Though then, the Lords deep VViſedome, to this day, / VVork in the VVorlds vncertain-certain Svvay: / Yet muſt vve credit that his hand compos'd / All in ſix Dayes, and that He then Repos'd; / By his example, giving vs beheſt, / On the Seaventh Day for evermore to Reſt.”

   “If you be pleas'd, retire into my Cell, / And there repoſe, a turne or tvvo, […]”

   “[H]is right Cheeke / Repoſing on a Cuſhion.”

   “Then the divine night came, and treading earth, / Close by the flood that had from Jove her birth, / Within a thicket I repos’d; […]”

   “Still is the toiling hand of Care: / The panting herds repoſe: / Yet hark, hovv thro' the peopled air / The buſy murmur glovvs!”

8. (also, figuratively, intransitive)To lean or recline, sit down, or lie down to rest; to rest.

   “Simon reposed in the year 1287.”

   “Lord Jesus, who at the hour of Compline reposedst in the tomb, and wast bewailed by thy most sorrowful Mother, and by other women; make us, we beseech thee, with true tears, to bewail thy most holy Passion, and never to give place to the things by which thou wouldst be crucified again.”

9. (intransitive)Followed by on or upon: of a thing: to lie or be physically positioned on something, especially horizontally; to rest on or be supported by something.

   “a trap reposing on sand”

   “On the table reposed a nut cake which she had baked that morning . . . a particularly toothsome concoction iced with pink icing and adorned with walnuts.”

10. (intransitive)Followed by on or upon: of light, a look, etc.: to fall or rest (and often remain for a while) on something; to alight, to dwell.

    “[T]he grate did then unclose, / And on that reverend form the moonlight did repose.”

    “For on such things the memory reposes / With tenderness,— […]”

    “Here there was the brown, breezy sweep of surrounding fields for the eye to repose on; here the trees, leafless as they were, still varied the monotony of the prospect, and helped the mind to look forward to summer time and shade.”

11. (intransitive)Followed by on or upon: to be based on; to depend or rely on.

    “The ſoul repoſing on aſſur'd relief, / Feels herſelf happy amidſt all her grief, / Forgets her labour as ſhe toils along, / VVeeps tears of joy, and burſts into a ſong.”

    “Lord Bolingbroke [Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke] may have publiſhed in French a ſketch of his Reflections on Exile: but his reputation novv repoſes on the addreſs of Voltaire, "Docte ſermones utriuſque linguæ;" and by his Engliſh dedication to Queen Caroline, and his Eſſay on Epic Poetry, it ſhould ſeem that Voltaire himſelf vviſhed to deſerve a return of the ſame compliment.”

12. (also, archaic, figuratively, intransitive)To cease activity to rest or recover; also, to have a period free from activity or disturbance.

    “From the Leila and Majnun of Nizami. […] Thou wert agitated like the sand of the desert; but now thou reposest as the water of the lake.”

    “By the forests, lakes, and fountains / Thro' the many-folded mountains; / To the rents, and gulphs, and chasms, / Where the Earth reposed from spasms, […]”

13. (intransitive, obsolete)To have faith in; to confide, to trust.

    “I do deſire thy vvorthy company, / Vpon vvhoſe faith and honor, I repoſe.”

    “In queſtions difficult or dangerous, it is indeed natural to repoſe upon authority, and, vvhen fear happens to predominate, upon the authority of thoſe vvhom vve do not generally think vviſer than ourſelves.”

    “We can come home to nothing in our survey of human nature, but to the affections and moral emotions, which are not subservient; and are not governed by ulterior motives. It is upon these that the soul may repose.”

14. (intransitive, literary, obsolete, poetic)To lie still and unmoving.

    “[T]he Pebles, Pyritæ, Amber, or other like Nodules, vvhich happened to be repoſed in thoſe Cliffs, amongſt the Earth ſo beaten dovvn, being hard, and not ſo diſſoluble, and likevviſe more bulky and ponderous, are left behind upon the Shores, being impeded, and ſecured, by that their bulk and vveight, from being born along vvith the Terreſtrial Matter into the Sea.”

    “[H]er dark and deepening eyes, / Which, as twin phantoms of one star that lies / O'er a dim well, move, though the star reposes, / Swam in our mute and liquid ecstasies, […]”

    “When the centuries behind me like a fruitful land reposed; / When I clung to all the present for the promise that it closed: […]”

15. (transitive)Senses relating to placing or positioning.

    “Now woorthy Tamburlaine, haue I repoſ'd, / In thy approoued Fortunes all my hope, / VVhat thinkſt thou man, ſhal come of our attempts?”

    “Long thus I ioyed in my happineſſe, / And vvell did hope my ioy vvoud haue no end: / But oh fond man, that in vvorlds fickleneſſe / Repoſeſt hope, or vveenedſt her thy frend, / That glories moſt in mortall miſeries, / And daylie doth her changefull counſels bend: / To make nevv matter fit for Tragedies.”

    “Stay yet another day, thou truſtie VVelchman. / The king repoſeth all his confidence in thee.”

    “In reuerence therefore of the hopes vvhich the Grecians haue repoſed in you, and of the preſence of Iupiter Olympius, in vvhoſe Temple here, vve are in a manner ſuppliants to you, receiue the Mitylenians into league, and ayde vs.”

    “[T]here is something to be considered beyond forms of government—national character. And herein mainly should we repose our hopes. If a nation be led to aim at the good and the great, depend upon it, whatever be its form, the government will respond to its convictions and its sentiments.”

16. (transitive)Senses relating to placing or positioning.

    “His greatest defect was the facility with which he reposed the cares of state on favorites, not always the most deserving.”

17. (archaic, transitive)Senses relating to placing or positioning.

    “When Christ affirmeth, that "where a mans treasure is, there is his heart:" by treasure, he meaneth not the possession of riches simply, but hee meaneth that, wherein a man reposeth his chiefe treasure and felicitie to consist. […] He that reposeth his felicitie in building, giueth ouer his cogitations vnto that.”

    “[…] Libraries, […] are as the Shrynes, vvhere all the Reliques of the ancient Saints, full of true vertue, and that vvithout deluſion or impoſture, are preſerued, and repoſed; […]”

    “But these thy fortunes let us straight repose / In this divine cave's bosom, that may close / Reserve their value; […]”

    “The sword was now brandished, not to be sheathed or reposed, until the one party or the other should be irretrievably defeated.”

18. (obsolete, transitive)Senses relating to placing or positioning.

    “[A] certaine Bonzi, […] did giue them a certaine booke to kiſſe, and laid it on their heads, vvherein they repoſed much holiness, and vvorſhipped it as a god: […]”

19. (obsolete, rare, transitive)Senses relating to placing or positioning.

    “A long buylt citty there ſtood, Carthago ſo named, / From the mouth of Tybris, from land eke of Italie ſeauer'd, / Poſſeſt wyth Tyrians, in ſtrength and riches abounding, / There Iuno the princes her empyre wholye repoſed, […]”

20. (obsolete, rare, transitive)Senses relating to placing or positioning.

    “[T]hee ſouthwynd merciles eager / Three gallant veſſels on rocks gnawne craggye repoſed.”

21. (transitive)Senses relating to returning.
22. (obsolete, transitive)Senses relating to returning.

    “[A] multitude of common People gather'd together in Bands that very Sunday-morning, all armed vvith a full and furious purpoſe to repoſe the Inſolence and Pride of the Nobility, vvho had reduced the common people to ſuch a paſs that they could hardly live by them.”

23. (obsolete, transitive)Senses relating to returning.
24. (Scotland, obsolete, rare, transitive)Senses relating to returning.
25. (intransitive)Of a thing: to be in the management or power of a person or an organization.
26. (reflexive, transitive)To pose (oneself or someone, or something) again.

noun

1. (uncountable)Temporary cessation from activity to rest and recover, especially in the form of sleep; rest; (countable) an instance of this; a break, a rest; a sleep.

   “So forth ſhe rode vvithout repoſe or reſt, / Searching all lands and each remoteſt part, […]”

   “Content thee Cytherea [i.e., Aphrodite] in thy care, / Since thy Æneas vvandring fate is firme, / VVhoſe vvearie lims ſhall ſhortly make repoſe, / In thoſe faire vvalles I promiſt him of yore: […]”

   “My fathers Palace, Madam, vvill be proud / To entertaine your preſence, if youle daine / To make repoſe vvithin.”

   “From him that vveareth hyacinth, and beareth the crovvne, euen to him, that is couered vvith rude linen: furie, enuie, tumult, vvauering, and the feare of death, anger perſeuering, and contention, and in time of repoſe in bed, the ſleepe of night changeth his knowledge.”

   “VVhiles vve ſtood here ſecuring your repoſe, / (Euen novv) vve heard a hollovv burſt of bellovving / Like Buls, or rather Lyons, did't not vvake you? / It ſtrooke mine eare moſt terribly.”

2. (broadly, uncountable)Temporary cessation from activity to rest and recover, especially in the form of sleep; rest; (countable) an instance of this; a break, a rest; a sleep.
3. (broadly, countable)Temporary cessation from activity to rest and recover, especially in the form of sleep; rest; (countable) an instance of this; a break, a rest; a sleep.
4. (uncountable)The state of being peacefully inactive or relaxed, or being free from disturbances or worries; calmness, ease, peace, quietness.

   “[T]he Felicity of this life, conſiſteth not in the repoſe of a mind ſatisfied.”

   “[…] I am diverted from that subject by letters which I have received from several ladies, complaining of a certain sect of professed enemies to the repose of the fair sex, called Oglers.”

   “"So may thy lineage find at last repose," / I thus adjur'd him, "as thou solve this knot," / Which now involves my mind.”

   “The air of wealth and repose diffused about them seemed to comfort their neediness.”

5. (uncountable)Calmness of the mind or temperament; composure.

   “But lord! she goes with so blithe a repose, / And comes so shapely about you, / That ere you're aware, with a glance and an air, / She whisks your heart from out you.”

   “She had the passions of her kind, / She spake some certain truths of you. / Indeed I heard one bitter word / That scarce is fit for you to hear. / Her manners had not that repose / Which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere.”

   “Repose and cheerfulness are the badge of the gentleman,—repose in energy. The Greek battle-pieces are calm; the heroes, in whatever violent actions engaged, retain a serene aspect; as we say of Niagara, that it falls without speed.”

   “[T]here is in the Englishman a combination of qualities, a modesty, an independence, a responsibility, a repose, combined with an absence of everything calculated to call a blush into the cheek of a young person, which one would seek in vain among the Nations of the Earth.”

6. (uncountable)Of the face, a muscle, etc.: the state of being relaxed and not in tension.

   “In repose the faces of the men were intelligent and dignified, those of the women ofttimes prepossessing.”

   “He has a handsome face, mind you, in repose.”

7. (uncountable)The state of lying still and unmoving; calmness, tranquillity; (countable) an instance of this.

   “But o'er the tvvilight groves, and dusky caves, / Long-ſounding iſles, and intermingled graves, / Black Melancholy ſits, and round her throvvs / A death-like ſilence, and a dread repose: […]”

   “[H]e arose, / Ethereal, flush'd, and like a throbbing star / Seen mid the sapphire heaven's deep repose; […]”

   “Over the whole landscape lay a repose and a peace so perfect that no one could have suspected the close proximity of the capital.”

8. (archaic, uncountable)Relief or respite from something exhausting or unpleasant; (countable) an instance of this.

   “O Sole in whom my thoughts find all repoſe, / My Glorie, my Perfection, glad I ſee / Thy face, […]”

   “I vvho lately ſang / Truth, Hope and Charity, and touch'd vvith avve / The ſolemn chords, and vvith a trembling hand, / Eſcap'd vvith pain from that advent'rous flight, / Novv ſeek repoſe upon an humbler theme; […]”

   “'Tis almost / Thirty-four years of nearly ceaseless warfare / With the Turk, or the powers of Italy; / The state had need of some repose.”

9. (archaic, uncountable)Confidence, faith, or trust in something.
10. (uncountable)The arrangement of elements of an artwork, a building, etc., that is restful and soothing to a viewer; harmony.

    “VVe are to take occaſion as much as poſſibly vve can, […] to find the repoſe of vvhich vve ſpeak, by the Light and by the Shadovv, vvhich naturally accompany ſolid Bodies.”

11. (uncountable)The state of leaving something alone or untouched; (countable) an instance of this.
12. (uncountable)Chiefly in the form point of repose, position of repose, etc.: absence of motion; equilibrium; (countable) a position where an object is not moving and at rest.
13. (uncountable)Of a natural phenomenon, especially the eruption of a volcano: the state of temporary cessation of activity; dormancy, quiescence.

    “VVhile proudly riding o'er the azure realm / In gallant trim the gilded Veſſel goes; / Youth on the provv, and Pleaſure at the helm; / Regardleſs of the ſvveeping VVhirlvvind's ſvvay, / That, huſh'd in grim repoſe, expects his evening-prey.”

    “[…] Vesuvius was virtually in repose, and the slow changes in the heaped white cloud above the crater were only like those of a thunder cloud.”

14. (countable, obsolete)A piece of furniture on which one can rest, especially a couch or sofa.

    “[S]he lay expecting her coming Lover, on a repoſe of rich Embroidery of Gold on blevv Sattin, […]”

15. (countable, obsolete)A place of rest.

    “[W]orſt is my Port, / My harbour and my ultimate repoſe, / The end I vvould attain, my final good.”

16. (obsolete, uncountable)The technique of including in a painting an area or areas which are dark, indistinct, or soft in tone so that other areas are more prominent, or so that a viewer can rest they eyes when looking at them; (countable) such an area of a painting.