stop

Forms

stop m (uncountable)^[1] As a noun it takes the plural stops.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English stop, first taken in naval language as the imperative of the English verb, meaning “halt!”.^[3][4][5] The noun senses come from the English noun, meaning “obstruction, halt”, derived from the verb.^[3] The English verb meant “to plug, to close” in Middle English and goes back to Old English *stoppian, postulated from its Germanic counterparts and the derived forstoppian.^[3] Rey traces it, like Dutch stoppen, to a Germanic verb meaning “to stop”, to which Old High German stopfân “to stuff” also belongs; the earlier view derived the Germanic family from Vulgar Latin *stuppō (“to plug”), from stuppa (“tow”), a Greek loan.^[4][6]

The telegraphic “stop” between sentences is a second borrowing from the English noun, which meant “full stop” from 1616, short for full stop (1596).^[4][3] The sense “hitchhiking” is a French pseudo-anglicism, a clipping of auto-stop.^[1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1792 as a naval interjection meaning “halt!”, in Romme's Dictionnaire de la marine française.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The interjection, from the time of the Revolution, gives an order or is a cry to stop; from it comes the figurative stop à “an end must be put to” (1907).^[4] The noun appeared in 1855 with the general sense “stop, halt”, which has remained rare; the senses “stopped position of a device” (1888) and the diaphragm of a camera (1890) have gone out of use.^[4][3] In 1897 it named the break in the line of the nose of certain dogs.^[3]

From 1923 it separated the sentences of a telegram.^[3][4] In road traffic it named the stop sign from 1927, and then the obligation to stop at a junction and the junction itself; this use does not match English usage, where halt came first.^[4][3] In Quebec it is considered an anglicism and the signs read arrêt, bilingual ones arrêt / stop.^[4][2] In 1935 it named the brake light of a car, and in 1953 it became a familiar clipping of auto-stop (1941).^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1792 – First record, as a naval interjection, in Romme.^[3][4]
• 1855 – First record of the noun, “a halt”, in Le Sport.^[3][5]
• 1888 – The stopped position of a device.^[3][4]
• 1897 – The break of the nose in certain dogs.^[3]
• 1907 – Stop à “an end to”.^[4]
• 1923 – Used in telegrams to separate sentences.^[3][4]
• 1927 – A stop sign held up by a motorist.^[3][4]
• 1935 – The brake light of a car.^[3][4]
• 1953 – A familiar clipping of auto-stop.^[3][4]

Meanings

Interjection

1. An order or cry to halt: stop!;^[2][4] (figurative) stop à (something): enough of it.^[2][4]
2. In telegrams, a word marking the end of a sentence.^[2][3]

Noun

1. (rare) A stop, a halt.^[2][4]
2. A brake light at the back of a vehicle; also feu stop.^[2][3]
3. A road stop sign requiring vehicles to stop at a junction; the junction itself: brûler un stop.^[2][4]
4. (familiar) hitchhiking: faire du stop;^[2][1] Ils sont descendus jusqu'à Marseille en stop.^[2][1]

Word family

• auto-stop

Related words

• non-stop
• étoffer
• étoupe

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 18, 120a