Etymologically
Log in

uninterrupted

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 01:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌʌnɪnt(ə)rˈʌptɪd/, /ʌnˌɪnt(ə)rˈʌptɪd/[1]
  • US: /ˌʌnɪntəˈrʌptɪd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + interrupted,[2][3][4] the past participle of interrupt.[3] The verb, first recorded about 1400 as interrupten, is from Latin interruptus, the past participle of interrumpō (“to break apart, break off”), from inter (“between”) and rumpō (“to break”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not broken in its continuity or sequence; continuous: 1602, in William Warner's Albion's England.[2] Etymonline dates this sense to about 1600.[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense "undisturbed, not broken into by something" followed in 1657, in a speech of Cromwell's,[2] or in the 1650s according to Etymonline.[3] From 1677 the word was also used as an adverb, "without interruption".[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "not broken; not interrupted", quoting Roscommon on "uninterrupted rest" and Addison on "a vast, uninterrupted prospect"; he also cited an "uninterrupted stitch" from a surgical book.[5] From 1791 it was used of a surface with no breaks or gaps between its parts.[2]

Timeline

  • 1602 – continuous, not broken in sequence.[2][3]
  • 1657 – undisturbed, not broken into.[2][3]
  • 1677 – as an adverb, without interruption.[2]
  • 1791 – of a surface, having no breaks between its parts.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Going on without a break or pause; continuous: six hours of uninterrupted rain.[6][7][2]
  2. Not disturbed or hindered: a few uninterrupted hours of study.[7][2]
  3. Of a view or surface, not blocked or broken: an uninterrupted view across the valley.[7][2]

Word family

  • uninterruptedly
  • uninterruptedness

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins