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Respite Has Latin Roots
Respite is first known to have been used at the turn of the 14th century to refer to a delay or extension asked for or granted for a specific reason—to give someone time to deliberate on a proposal, for example. Such a respite offered an opportunity for the kind of consideration inherent in the word's etymology. Respite traces from the Latin term respectus (also the source of English's respect), which comes from respicere, a verb with both concrete and abstract meanings: "to turn around to look at" or "to regard." Within a few decades of its earliest known use, English speakers had granted respite the sense we use most often today—"a welcome break."
Examples of respite in a Sentence
Martha Southgate, The Fall of Rome, 2002
Six years more of toil they had to face before they could expect the least respite, the cessation of the payments upon the house …
—Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, 1906
The laborer's day ends with the going down of the sun … but his employer, who speculates from month to month, has no respite from one end of the year to the other.
—Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854
The bad weather has continued without respite.
Miami Herald, 30 May 2024
After a full day of flying, handing my keys to the valet offered a welcome respite from running through airports.
—Carrie Honaker, Travel + Leisure, 29 May 2024
Ariane Lange, Sacramento Bee, 25 Jan. 2024
Come Tuesday evening, that respite figures to be over, according to the National Weather Service.
—Grace Hase, The Mercury News, 15 Jan. 2024
Linda Friedel, Kansas City Star, 31 Jan. 2024
This delightful sauna offers visitors respite from the hustle and bustle of the city.
—Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 9 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for respite 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'respite.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near respite
Cite this Entry
“Respite.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/respite. Accessed 6 Jun. 2024.
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respite
noun
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