[QUOTE=pravnik]
Princhester and constantine more or less got it. Cease and desist is one of many doublets left over in law and language from the time of the Norman conquest when it was common in law to combine a French or Latinate term with its Anglo-Saxon synonym: cease and desist, aid and abet, each and every, part and parcel, null and void, peace and quiet, etc.
[/QUOTE]
Except that “cease” (cesser ) and “desist” (désister ) are both of French origin. So are part and parcel, as well as peace and quiet, and null and void. And I believe “each” and “every” are both of Germanic origin.
So I’m not sure I follow.