obstruct

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin obstrūctus, the past participle of obstruō (“to build against, block up, hinder”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from ob- (“against, in the way of”) and struō (“to pile, build”),^[2][7][8][9] from Proto-Indo-European *streu-, an extended form of Proto-Indo-European *stere- (“to spread”).^[8] Barnhart, who first finds the verb in 1611, takes it as probably a back-formation from obstruction (1533), and Etymonline allows both origins.^[10][8] The OED compares French obstruer (“to block”) (1540).^[2] It is related to structure, construct and destroy.^[11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

To block a passage through an opening or channel: 1578, in John Banister's Historie of Man, an anatomy;^[2][3] Barnhart's first record is Cotgrave's French–English dictionary (1611),^[10] and Etymonline dates it to the 1610s.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From blocking a passage the verb soon moved to hindering a motion or action (1621), and figuratively to standing in the way of proceedings or plans (1645).^[2] Barnhart thinks the sense "hinder" (which he dates 1647) was modelled on the same sense of obstruction, recorded from 1601.^[10] Etymonline dates the use for hindering justice or the law to the 1640s,^[8] and in law the verb also names the offence of intentionally impeding someone.^[2] Milton used it in 1667 of blocking a view.^[2] Sport added the cricket dismissal obstructing the field (1868), and the foul of impeding a player in hockey and other games followed in 1895.^[2] Weekley notes that parliamentary obstruction was a tactic of the Irish party about 1880.^[13]

Timeline

• 1578 – to block a passage through an opening or channel.^[2][3]
• 1621 – to impede or hinder a motion or action.^[2]
• 1645 – to stand in the way of proceedings or plans.^[2]
• 1667 – to block a view, in Milton's Paradise Lost.^[2]
• 1868 – in cricket, obstructing the field.^[2]
• 1895 – in sports, to impede a player illegally.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To block a road, passage or channel, so that nothing can pass: A fallen tree obstructed the lane.^[6][3][2]
2. To hinder or slow the progress of an action or process: Endless amendments obstructed the bill.^[6][3][2]
3. To block a view, or cut something off from sight: The new tower obstructs our view of the bay.^[6][3][2]
4. (sports) To impede an opposing player illegally.^[2]

Word family

• obstructer
• obstructive
• obstructively
• obstructiveness
• obstructor
• obstructedly
• obstructingly
• unobstructed

Related words

• obstruction
• obstacle
• structure
• construct
• instruct
• destroy

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
13. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray