interrupt

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English interrupten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin interruptus (“broken off, interrupted”), the past participle of interrumpō (“to break apart, break off”),^[3][5][6][4] from inter (“between”) and rumpō (“to break”).^[3][7][5][8] The Middle English Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary instead derive it from Old French interrupt (“interrupted”), an adjective and participle.^[2][9] Barnhart thinks it may in some cases be a back-formation from interruption, which is recorded earlier, before 1393 in Gower.^[6] The American Heritage Dictionary refers the Latin verb to the root Proto-Indo-European *reup-.^[9] The same verb gave rupture and rout, and the OED compares corrupt.^[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To interfere with a legal right: Etymonline dates this sense to about 1400, and Barnhart finds it in Wycliffe's writings, probably before 1400.^[3][6] The Middle English Dictionary lists it first, as interfering with someone's possession, title or rights.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, to break in on an action and especially on speech, appears in the early 15th century,^[3][6] in Lydgate's translation of the History of Troy (1412–20) and in Hoccleve (before 1420); the Latin verb already had it.^[5][3] To break in on a person who is speaking is recorded from 1413.^[5] Several stronger senses died out: to hinder or prevent an action or a person (1464–1632), to infringe or suspend a law (1430–1587) and to put an end to or destroy something (1570–1608).^[5][10] From 1679 the verb was also used of breaking the continuity of something in space, such as a view or a line.^[5][11] Johnson (1755) defined it as hindering the process of anything by breaking in upon it.^[12] In Kent, Surrey and Sussex dialect it meant to annoy or disagree with someone, or to attack or pursue them.^[13] The noun, a signal that halts one computer program so that another can run, was formed from the verb in computing in the late 1950s.^[5][4][3]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – to interfere with a legal right.^[3][6]
• 1412–20 – to break in on speech or an action, in Lydgate.^[5][6]
• 1413 – to break in on a person who is speaking.^[5]
• 1430–1587 – to infringe or suspend a law (now obsolete).^[5]
• 1464–1632 – to hinder or prevent (now obsolete).^[5]
• 1679 – to break the continuity of something in space.^[5]
• 1956 – noun, in computing (Etymonline).^[3]
• 1957 – noun, an interruption of a computer program.^[5][4][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To stop a person who is speaking or doing something by saying or doing something oneself: Please don't interrupt me while I'm on the phone.^[11][4][5]
2. To break the continuity of an activity or process, often for a short time: The storm interrupted the power supply for an hour.^[11][4][5]
3. To break a line or surface, or to obstruct a view.^[11][5]
4. To break in on a conversation or speech with questions or remarks.^[11][5]
5. (obsolete, 1464–1632) To hinder or prevent an action, or stop a person from doing something.^[5][10]

Noun

1. (computing) A signal that stops the running of a program so that another can run, or the interruption itself.^[11][4][5]

Word family

• interruptible
• interruption
• interruptive
• interruptedly
• interruptedness
• uninterrupting
• reinterrupt
• interrupter

Related words

• abrupt
• corrupt
• disrupt
• rupture
• rout
• erupt

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)