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interrumpo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪn.tɛrˈrʊm.poː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [in.terˈrum.po][1]

Forms

interrumpō (present infinitive interrumpere, perfect active interrūpī, supine interruptum); third conjugation[1] Lucretius splits it in tmesis, inter quasi rumpere.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin inter- + rumpō (“to break”).[2][1] De Vaan traces rumpō to Proto-Italic *ru-n-p- (“to break”) and Proto-Indo-European *Hru-n-p- (“to break”).[4] Cognate with Old English rēofan (“to break, tear”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] who has “while I am afraid to interrupt the conversation”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to make a gap in something, to break apart or up, as Accius' broken cloud and Tacitus' broken, impassable roads, and of bridges to destroy, as in Caesar.[2][3] In war it is to break the ranks of an army, as in Caesar and Livy.[3] Figuratively it is to break off or interrupt, as Caesar's interrupted speech, and Cicero uses it of a voice broken by grief.[2][3] Lewis & Short note that it is common in the passive participle.[3] Church Latin glosses it “divide, break into, cleave, break apart”.[5] English interrupt, from its past participle, first meant to interfere with a legal right, about 1400.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of interrupting a conversation.[2][4][7]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of a broken cloud.[2][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of destroying bridges and interrupting a speech.[3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a broken voice.[2][7]
  • c. 1400 – English interrupt.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To break apart, break up; to destroy a bridge; to break an army's line.[2][3][5][1]
  2. To interrupt, break off, cut short; to cause a pause in.[2][3][1]

Word family

  • interruptiō
  • interruptor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de