halt English · revision 14929

+ Halt, lame, is a native word; halt, a stop, came from German.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /hɒlt/, /hɔːlt/, US /hɔːlt/, /hɑːlt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|lame}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 700|origins=gem-pro *haltaz}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Lame is [[inh|enm|halt]], [[inh|ang|healt]], recorded in the compound [[m|ang|lemphalt|t=limping]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*haltaz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) cognate with [[osx|halt]], [[ofs|halt]], [[goh|halz]] and [[non|haltr]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Barnhart and Etymonline connect it with words for breaking, such as [[la|clādēs|t=destruction, disaster]] and [[grc|κόλος|tr=kólos|t=docked, curtailed]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) though Hoad calls its origin unknown.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lame, crippled: before 700.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb, to limp, is from about 825 and is now archaic;^(OED 1989) to waver is from the 14th century, and to proceed lamely from the 15th.^(Hoad 1986) The noun, the lame collectively, is from about 1200,^(Etymonline) a limp from 1599,^(OED 1989) and foot rot in sheep from 1750.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 700 – lame.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 825 – to limp.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – the lame (noun).^(Etymonline)

+ * 14th century – to waver.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(archaic)'' Lame; [[crippled]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To proceed uncertainly; to [[waver]].^(AHD)

+ # To be defective, as an argument or a line of verse.^(AHD)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To limp.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[halting]]

+ * [[haltingly]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|stop}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1591|origins=goh haltan}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The stop is [[bor|de|Halt]], the imperative of [[m|de|halten|t=to hold, stop]], from [[goh|haltan]] (see [[hold]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) first in the military phrase to make halt, after [[m|de|Halt machen]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Collins 2023) partly through [[fr|halte]] and [[it|alto]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Earlier English forms were alt and alto (1591–98).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A temporary stop on a march or journey: 1591 in the OED, the 1590s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The German military command passed into the Romance languages in the 16th century.^(Etymonline) The verb is from 1656, in Blount's Glossographia,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and halt as a word of command from 1796.^(Etymonline) In Britain a halt is a small railway station without staff (1910).^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1591 – a stop on a march.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1656 – to halt (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1796 – halt! (command).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1910 – a railway halt.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A stop or interruption of movement or progress.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(chiefly British)'' A minor railway station without permanent buildings.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To stop, or to bring to a stop.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # A command to stop, especially when marching.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hold]]

+ * [[lame]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}