Cease vs. Terminate — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Cease and Terminate
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Definitions
Cease➦
Come or bring to an end
They were asked to cease all military activity
On his retirement the job will cease to exist
The hostilities ceased and normal life was resumed
Terminate➦
To bring to an end or halt
"His action terminated the most hopeful period of reform in Prussian history" (Gordon A. Craig).
Cease➦
To put an end to; discontinue
The factory ceased production.
Terminate➦
To occur at or form the end of; conclude or finish
A display of fireworks that terminated the festivities.
Cease➦
To come to an end; stop
A process that never ceases.
Terminate➦
To discontinue the employment of; dismiss
A company that terminated 300 workers.
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Cease➦
To stop performing an activity or action; desist
"fold our wings, / And cease from wanderings" (Tennyson).
Terminate➦
To murder or assassinate (someone).
Cease➦
Cessation; ceasing
We worked without cease to get the project finished on time.
Terminate➦
To come to an end; reach a stopping point
The oil pipeline terminates at a shipping port. The negotiations terminated with a celebration.
Cease➦
To stop.
And with that, his twitching ceased.
Terminate➦
To form an end or produce a result. Often used with in
"The Peloponnesian war ... terminated in the ruin of the Athenian commonwealth" (Alexander Hamilton).
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Cease➦
To stop doing (something).
And with that, he ceased twitching.
Terminate➦
(transitive) To end something, especially when left in an incomplete state.
To terminate a process before its completion
To terminate an effort, or a controversy
Cease➦
To be wanting; to fail; to pass away, perish.
Terminate➦
(transitive) To conclude.
Cease➦
(obsolete) Cessation; extinction (see without cease).
Terminate➦
(transitive) To set or be a limit or boundary to.
To terminate a surface by a line
Cease➦
To come to an end; to stop; to leave off or give over; to desist; as, the noise ceased.
Terminate➦
To kill someone or something.
The enemy must be terminated by any means possible.
Cease➦
To be wanting; to fail; to pass away.
The poor shall never cease out of the land.
Terminate➦
To end the employment contract of an employee; to fire, lay off.
Cease➦
To put a stop to; to bring to an end.
But he, her fears to ceaseSent down the meek-eyed peace.
Cease, then, this impious rage.
Terminate➦
(intransitive) To end, conclude, or cease; to come to an end.
Cease➦
Extinction.
Terminate➦
(intransitive) Of a mode of transport, to end its journey; or, of a railway line, to reach its terminus.
This train terminates at the next station.
Cease➦
(`cease' is a noun only in the phrase `without cease') end
Terminate➦
(intransitive) To issue or result.
Cease➦
Put an end to a state or an activity;
Quit teasing your little brother
Terminate➦
Terminated; limited; bounded; ended.
Cease➦
Have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical;
The bronchioles terminate in a capillary bed
Your rights stop where you infringe upon the rights of other
My property ends by the bushes
The symphony ends in a pianissimo
Terminate➦
Having a definite and clear limit or boundary; having a determinate size, shape or magnitude.
Mountains on the Moon cast shadows that are very dark, terminate and more distinct than those cast by mountains on the Earth.
Terminate➦
(mathematics) Expressible in a finite number of terms; (of a decimal) not recurring or infinite.
One third is a recurring decimal, but one half is a terminate decimal.
Terminate➦
To set a term or limit to; to form the extreme point or side of; to bound; to limit; as, to terminate a surface by a line.
Terminate➦
To put an end to; to make to cease; as, to terminate an effort, or a controversy.
Terminate➦
Hence, to put the finishing touch to; to bring to completion; to perfect.
During this interval of calm and prosperity, he [Michael Angelo] terminated two figures of slaves, destined for the tomb, in an incomparable style of art.
Terminate➦
To be limited in space by a point, line, or surface; to stop short; to end; to cease; as, the torrid zone terminates at the tropics.
Terminate➦
To come to a limit in time; to end; to close.
The wisdom of this world, its designs and efficacy, terminate on zhis side heaven.
Terminate➦
Bring to an end or halt;
She ended their friendship when she found out that he had once been convicted of a crime
The attack on Poland terminated the relatively peaceful period after WWI
Terminate➦
Have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical;
The bronchioles terminate in a capillary bed
Your rights stop where you infringe upon the rights of other
My property ends by the bushes
The symphony ends in a pianissimo
Terminate➦
Be the end of; be the last or concluding part of;
This sad scene ended the movie
Terminate➦
Terminate the employment of;
The boss fired his secretary today
The company terminated 25% of its workers