stop

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /stɒp/, US /stɑːp/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English stoppen (“to plug, block”), inherited from Old English -stoppian, known only in forstoppian (“to stop up, stifle”).^[2][3] This is a West Germanic word, cognate with Old Frisian stoppia (“to plug, stuff”), Middle Low German stoppen, Dutch stoppen and Old High German stopfōn (modern German stopfen (“to plug, stuff”)).^[3][4] Most dictionaries take the Germanic verb as an early borrowing from Vulgar Latin *stuppāre (“to stop up with tow”),^[3][5][6] from Latin stuppa (“tow, coarse flax”), from Ancient Greek στύππη (stúppē).^[7][5][8] In support of this, plugs of tow were used in the Rhine valley from ancient times.^[2][3] Barnhart, following Kluge, suggests instead a native Germanic *stoppōn, related to Latin stupēre (“to be stunned”), though influenced by the Latin verb.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To plug, block or stop up an opening: Old English forstoppian was used of stopping the ears,^[9][4] and the Middle English verb is first recorded before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to halt, cease” developed in English alone, from the idea of stopping a flow by blocking a hole;^[2][6] other European languages have since borrowed it from English.^[2][6] “To bring to a halt” is from the 14th century and “to come to a halt” from the 16th.^[9] “To cause to cease” and “to stop the course of something” are recorded in the 1370s and 1390s.^[10] The noun meant “a plug” in the late 14th century and “a cessation” in the mid-15th.^[2] On musical instruments a stop closed a hole to change the tone (about 1500); on organs it became a set of pipes and the knob that works it, whence pull out all the stops “make every effort” (1909).^[2] A stop was a pause in speaking by the 1560s and a punctuation mark by 1590,^[2] and full stop was printed as stop in telegrams by 1936.^[2] In phonetics it is a consonant made with complete closure (1660s), and “a stopping place” (bus stop) dates from 1889.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1200 – to plug or block (Ancrene Riwle).^[3]
• 1377 – to cause to cease.^[10]
• 14th century – to bring to a halt.^[9]
• late 14th century – noun, a plug.^[2]
• mid-15th century – noun, a cessation of motion or action.^[2]
• c. 1500 – a stop on a musical instrument.^[2]
• 16th century – to come to a halt.^[9]
• 1560s – a pause in speaking.^[2]
• 1590 – a punctuation mark.^[2]
• 1594 – adjective, as in stop sign.^[5]
• 1660s – in phonetics, a stop consonant.^[2]
• 1889 – a stopping place.^[2]
• 1909 – pull out all the stops.^[2]
• 1918 – stop sign.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To cease moving or acting; come to a halt.
2. To cause to halt or cease: stop a car.
3. To leave off doing (something): stop talking.
4. To prevent or restrain: stop him from leaving.
5. To close (an opening) by filling or plugging; block (a road or passage).
6. To order a bank to withhold payment of (a cheque).
7. To break a journey for a short visit or stay.

Noun

1. The act of stopping, or the state of being stopped; an end.
2. A short stay during a journey; a place where a bus or train regularly stops.
3. A device that blocks or regulates movement; a plug.
4. (music) A set of organ pipes of one tone quality, or the knob that controls it.
5. (phonetics) A consonant made by completely closing the vocal tract, such as /p/ or /t/.
6. (chiefly British) A punctuation mark, especially a full stop.

Word family

• stoppable
• stopless
• stoplessness
• double-stop
• heart-stopping
• stop-action
• short-stop
• stop-and-go

Related words

• stuff
• estop
• stopper
• stoppage
• stopple

Usage notes

Stop is the general term among verbs meaning “to bring to an end”; cease and desist are more formal, halt suggests a sudden or commanded stop, and quit is informal.^[11][12] RHWU adds that arrest implies a sudden, complete restraint and check a partial or temporary one.^[12]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
9. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
12. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House