The Pause Symbol Comes From Music Notation
A pause is a temporary stop. The two vertical bars on a pause button were borrowed from a musical rest marking.
A pause is a temporary stop in action or speech. The two upright bars on every pause button were adapted in the 1960s from musical notation, where the *caesura* — two slanting parallel lines — marks a break in a phrase. The play and stop symbols were designed alongside it, and the set has survived every change of media technology since. In music, a *pause* mark over a note also tells the performer to hold it longer than written.
- A temporary stop. *A long pause.*
- To stop temporarily. *Pause the video.*
- Caesura — the musical break. *A caesura.*
- Fermata — the hold mark. *A fermata.*
- Latin — *pausa*, a halt. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | pause | A brief pause. |
| Verb | pause | Pause here. |
| Past | paused | She paused. |
| Related | caesura | A caesura. |
| Latin | pausa | A halt. |
- There was a long pause before he answered.Speech.
- Pause the recording there.Media.
- The symbol comes from music.Design.
Where the media symbols came from
- Pause — two bars, from the musical caesura
- Play — a triangle pointing the direction the tape moves
- Stop — a square, chosen as a neutral blocking shape
- Record — a filled circle, from the shape of a recording head
- Standardised in the 1960s and unchanged since
Latin *pausa*, a halt or cessation, from Greek *pausis*, from *pauein*, to stop.
Where does the pause symbol come from?
From the caesura in musical notation, two parallel lines marking a break in a phrase, adapted for tape machines in the 1960s.
What is a fermata?
A musical mark instructing the performer to hold a note or rest longer than its written value.