Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: Old French
Origin: desister, from Latin sistere 'to stand, stop'

desist

 verb
     
de‧sist [intransitive] formal
to stop doing something:
We hope that the military regime will desist from its acts of violence.

➔ cease and desist

at cease1 (2)
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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