Etymologically
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obstacle

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɒbstəkəl/[1]
  • US: /ˈɑbstəkəl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English obstacle, also obstakel and obstakle,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman obstacle, also obstakel,[4] and Old French obstacle, earlier ostacle,[4][5][3][6] and partly directly from Latin obstāculum (“a hindrance, obstruction”).[3][5][2] The Old French word is recorded from about 1225,[4] and the Anglo-Norman one, meaning a hindrance, including one to a legal step, from about 1200.[7] The Latin noun, recorded from the 2nd century AD, is formed from obstō (“to stand in the way, hinder”) and the suffix -culum;[4][6] Etymonline and Klein see in it the instrumental suffix Proto-Indo-European *-tlom.[5][8] The verb comes from ob- (“against, in front of”) and stō (“to stand”),[4][5][9][6] from Proto-Indo-European *sta- (“to stand, make or be firm”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Something that stands in the way; a hindrance: Barnhart finds obstakil about 1340 in Richard Rolle's Psalter, and obstacle about 1385 in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.[3] The OED's first quotation is the Chaucer one, from the Knight's Tale (c. 1385).[4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word was used of literal and figurative barriers alike.[4][2] In Middle English one could make obstacle, to cause a hindrance or to object, a phrase that lasted, chiefly in Scotland, until 1632;[2][4] withouten obstacle meant without hindrance.[2] Chaucer used the word three times.[10] In the 16th century obstacle was also an adjective meaning "obstinate", as in Shakespeare's 1 Henry VI: "Fie, Joan, that thou wilt be so obstacle!",[11][12] and a verb, to put obstacles in someone's way (1538).[4][11] Johnson (1755) defined it as "something opposed; hindrance; obstruction".[13] Weekley says that obstacle race was coined in 1869 by the honorary secretary of the London Athletic Club;[14] Etymonline dates obstacle course by 1891.[5] In British show jumping an obstacle is a fence or hedge.[15]

Timeline

  • c. 1340 – obstakil, a hindrance, in Rolle.[3]
  • c. 1385 – obstacle, in Chaucer.[4][3]
  • c. 1425 – to make obstacle, to resist or object (obsolete by 1632).[4]
  • 1535 – adjective, obstinate (obsolete by 1616).[4][11]
  • 1538 – verb, to put obstacles in the way of (obsolete).[4]
  • 1869 – obstacle race.[14]
  • 1891 – obstacle course.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Something that stands in the way or holds back progress; a hindrance or obstruction: The main obstacle to the merger was the price.
  2. (British) A fence or hedge to be jumped in show jumping.

Word family

  • obstacle course
  • obstacle race

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes it from its near-synonyms: an obstacle stands in the way of progress, material or not; an obstruction blocks a passage more or less completely; a hindrance holds back by interfering and delaying; and an impediment interferes with proper working.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  11. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  15. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  16. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House