English
interrupt
Interrupt comes from Latin interruptus ‘broken apart’, and goes back to interrumpere.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinterrumpere‘to break apart/off, interrupt’next step skipped: Latin interrumpō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinterruptus‘broken apart’past participle of interrumpere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500interrupten
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595interrupt
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinterrumpere‘to break apart/off, interrupt’next step skipped: Latin interrumpō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinterruptus‘broken apart’past participle of interrumpere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500interrupten
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595interrupt
Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “Do not interrupt me in my course.”
A compound of inter ‘between’ + rumpere ‘to break’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér ‘between’
Proto-Italic *n̥ter ‘between’
Latin inter ‘between’
Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- ‘break’
Proto-Indo-European *Hrunépti ~ *Hrumpénti
Proto-Italic *rumpō
Latin rumpō ‘to break’
Every English word from Latin interrumpere
Today it means
verb To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly, especially by speaking.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin interrumpere / interrupt