discontinue

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English discontinuen,^[2][3][4] borrowed partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman discontinuer, also descontinuer, and partly borrowed from Medieval Latin discontinuō (“to stop, interrupt”),^[5][3][6] which is formed from dis- and continuō (“to join together, continue”).^[5][2][7][6] In Anglo-Norman the verb is recorded from about 1310, in legal use for dropping a charge or lawsuit, and also meant to break off or to come to an end;^[5][8] continental French has it from 1314, and the OED compares discontinuare and discontinuar.^[5] Hoad dates the English verb to the 15th century,^[9] and continue is its base.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To break the continuity of something, to interrupt or sever it: before 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, a sense obsolete since the late 18th century.^[5][6] Etymonline gives "be interrupted, cease, stop" in the late 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The oldest English senses were physical: to interrupt or divide something (from before 1398) and, intransitively, to break apart (about 1450 to 1626).^[5] The modern sense "to stop, cease" appears about 1425 in Lydgate's Troy Book, and its transitive use, to put an end to a practice, in the Rolls of Parliament of 1474–75;^[5][2] Etymonline dates the transitive "cause to cease" to the late 15th century.^[2] Law kept two technical senses: to alienate an entailed estate from the rightful heir (1426–1851) and, still current, to dismiss a suit.^[5][10] Later uses narrowed the stopping to particular things: a course of medicine (1598), a subscription or periodical (1764), and a product no longer made or sold (1881).^[5] Johnson (1755) still gave first the old sense of losing cohesion, or suffering separation.^[11]

Timeline

• before 1398 – to interrupt, sever, divide (obsolete by 1785).^[5]
• c. 1425 – intransitive, to cease, stop.^[5]
• 1426 – in law, to alienate an entailed estate from the heir (obsolete).^[5]
• c. 1435 – in law, to dismiss a suit.^[5]
• c. 1450 – intransitive, to break apart (obsolete by 1626).^[5]
• 1474 – transitive, to stop doing something; to abolish a practice.^[5]
• 1598 – to stop taking or prescribing a medicine.^[5]
• 1764 – to cancel a subscription or periodical.^[5]
• 1881 – to stop making or selling a product.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To stop doing, using or providing something; to abandon or terminate it: The council discontinued the night bus.^[10][4][5]
2. To stop making or selling a product: The model was discontinued last year.^[5]
3. To stop taking a medicine or treatment.^[5]
4. To come to an end; to cease.^[10][5]
5. (law) To end or abandon a suit or action.^[10][5]
6. (obsolete, 1398–1785) To break the continuity of; to interrupt or sever.^[5][6][11]

Word family

• discontinuation
• discontinuer

Related words

• continue
• continuous
• discontinuous
• discontinuity
• discontinuance

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.