halt

halt

See also: Halt, hält, and hált

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /hɒlt/
  • (Conservative RP) IPA^(key): /hɔːlt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /hɔlt/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /hɑlt/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒlt

Etymology 1

From Middle English halten, from Old English healtian (“to be lame, walk with a limp”), from Proto-Germanic *haltōną. English usage in the sense of 'make a halt' is from the noun. Cognate with North Frisian halte, Swedish halta.

Verb

halt (third-person singular simple present halts, present participle halting, simple past and past participle halted)

1. (intransitive) To limp; move with a limping gait.
   • c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or VVhat You VVill”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i]:

     Here comes Sir Toby halting — you shall hear more; but if he had not been in drink, he would have tickled you othergates than he did.

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:

     Do not smile at me that I boast her of,
     For thou shalt find she will outstrip all praise,
     And make it halt behind her.

2. (intransitive) To stand in doubt whether to proceed, or what to do; hesitate; be uncertain; linger; delay; mammer.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 1 Kings 18:21:

     How long halt ye between two opinions?

3. (intransitive) To be lame, faulty, or defective, as in connection with ideas, or in measure, or in versification.
4. To waver.
5. To falter.

Translations

limp (walk lamely) — see limp

Etymology 2

From Middle French halt, from early modern German halt (“stop!”), imperative of halten (“to hold, to stop”). More at hold.

Verb

halt (third-person singular simple present halts, present participle halting, simple past and past participle halted)

1. (intransitive) To stop marching.
2. (intransitive) To stop either temporarily or permanently.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:

     And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs, ascending the stairs two at a time, peeped perfunctorily into the nursery as she passed the hallway—and halted amazed.

3. (transitive) To bring to a stop.
4. (transitive) To cause to discontinue.

   The contract negotiations halted operations for at least a week.

Synonyms

• (to stop marching):
• (to stop): brake, desist, stay; See also Thesaurus:stop
• (to cause something to stop): freeze, immobilize; See also Thesaurus:immobilize
• (to cause to discontinue): break off, terminate, shut down, stop; See also Thesaurus:desist

Translations

to stop either temporarily or permanently

Bulgarian: спирам (bg) (spiram), прекъсвам (bg) (prekǎsvam) Cornish: hedhi Esperanto: halti Finnish: pysähtyä (fi), seisahtua (fi) French: faire halte (fr) German: anhalten (de), stoppen (de), rasten (de) Irish: tarraing suas Italian: fermare (it) Japanese: 停止する (teishisuru), 休止する (kyūshisuru) Latin: subsisto Malayalam: നിർത്തുക (ml) (niṟttuka) Maori: urutū Norwegian: stoppe (no), bremse Portuguese: estagnar (pt) Quechua: sayay Romanian: opri (ro) Russian: встать (как вко́панный) pf (vstatʹ (kak vkópannyj)) (about smb.), замереть (ru) pf (zameretʹ), замирать (ru) impf (zamiratʹ) Spanish: parar (es)

to cause something to stop

Bulgarian: спирам (bg) (spiram) Esperanto: haltigi Finnish: pysäyttää (fi), seisauttaa (fi) German: anhalten (de), stoppen (de), stocken (de) Irish: tarraing suas Italian: fermare (it) Japanese: 押し止める (oshitodomeru), さまたげる (ja) (samatageru) Malayalam: നിർത്തുക (ml) (niṟttuka) Maori: urutū Norwegian: stoppe (no) Quechua: sayay Romanian: opri (ro) Russian: остана́вливать (ru) n (ostanávlivatʹ) Spanish: parar (es) Swedish: stoppa (sv)

to waver or be hesitant

Bulgarian: колебая се (kolebaja se) German: anhalten (de), stoppen (de), stocken (de), zögern (de) Japanese: ためらう (ja) (tamerau) Norwegian: nøle (no), avvente (no)

Noun

halt (plural halts)

1. A cessation, either temporary or permanent.

   The contract negotiations put a halt to operations.

   • 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707, OCLC 937919305:

     Without any halt they marched.

   • 1962 April, R. K. Evans, “The Acceptance Testing of Diesel Locomotives”, in Modern Railways, page 268:

     Because most diesel failures can be traced to electrical faults, minor in themselves but often difficult to pin-point, any unscheduled halt during a trial run is often the signal for the frenzied unfolding of wiring diagrams and the appearance of an impressive array of voltmeters and circuit testers.

2. (rail transport) A minor railway station (usually unstaffed) in the United Kingdom.

   The halt itself never achieved much importance, even with workers coming to and from the adjacent works.

   • 1961 November, H. G. Ellison and P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 668:

     On once more we swung, bumping uneasily along in the antique narrow-gauge coach, with gloomy woods and gathering night outside, shouts and songs (and quacks) inside—this was not at all the sort of train ordained by the logical strategists in Paris—then grinding to a stop at a mysterious halt which was no more than a nameboard in the pinewoods, without even a footpath leading to it, but nevertheless with a solitary passenger stolidly waiting.

Synonyms

• (cessation: temporary): hiatus, moratorium, recess; see also Thesaurus:pause
• (cessation: permanent): close, endpoint, terminus; see also Thesaurus:finish

Translations

cessation

Armenian: դադար (hy) (dadar) Bulgarian: спиране (bg) n (spirane) Esperanto: halto Finnish: pysähtyminen (fi), pysähdys (fi) (temporary), loppu (fi), lopettaminen (fi) (permanent) German: Halt (de) m, Blockierung (de) f, Pause (de) Romanian: oprire (ro) f

minor railway station

Armenian: կիսակայարան (hy) (kisakayaran) Basque: geraleku Bulgarian: спирка (bg) f (spirka) Catalan: baixador m, peu (ca) m Dutch: halte (nl) f Esperanto: trajnhaltejo Finnish: seisake (fi) French: halte (fr) f Galician: apeadoiro (gl) m, apeadeiro (gl) m German: Halteplatz m, Haltestelle (de) f Hungarian: megállóhely (hu) Portuguese: apeadeiro Romanian: haltă (ro) f Russian: полустанок (ru) m (polustanok) Spanish: apeadero (es) m

Etymology 3

From Middle English halt, from Old English healt, from Proto-Germanic *haltaz (“halt, lame”), from Proto-Indo-European *kol-d-, from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to beat, strike, cut, slash”). Cognate with Danish halt, Swedish halt.

Adjective

halt (comparative more halt, superlative most halt)

1. (archaic) Lame, limping.
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], OCLC 762018299, Mark ]:

     It is better for the to goo halt into lyfe, then with ij. fete to be cast into hell […]

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Luke 14:21:

     Bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

Noun

halt (plural halts)

1. (dated) Lameness; a limp.

Anagrams

• lath, thal

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Alemannic German

Etymology

From Middle High German halt. Cognate with German halt (adverb).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /halt/

Adverb

halt

1. so, just, simply
   • 1978, Rolf Lyssy & Christa Maerker, Die Schweizermacher, (transcript):

     Chömmer halt e chli früner. Schadet a nüt.

     So we'll arrive a little earlier. Won't do any harm.

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Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦalt]

Interjection

halt

1. Alternative form of holt

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Danish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

halt

1. lame

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /halt/

Etymology 1

From the verb halten (“to hold; to stop”).

Verb

halt

1. singular imperative of halten

Interjection

halt!

1. stop!, wait!

Descendants

• → Dutch: halt
• → Italian: alt
• → Spanish: alto
• → Portuguese: alto
• → Middle French: halt
  • French: halte
    • → Dutch: halte
  • → English: halt

Etymology 2

From Middle High German halt, pertaining to Old High German halto (“soon, fast”). Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *haldiz, an adverbial comparative like *batiz.

Adverb

halt

1. (colloquial, modal particle) Indicating that something is generally known, or cannot be changed, or the like; often untranslatable; so, just, simply, indeed, well

   Synonym: eben

   Er ist halt ein Idiot. ― Well, he’s an idiot.

   Dann müssen wir halt härter arbeiten.

   Then we’ll just have to work harder.

Usage notes

• The word is originally southern German and is still considered so by some contemporary dictionaries. It has, however, become common throughout the language area during the past decades.

Descendants

• → Czech: holt

See also

• ja

Further reading

• “halt” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

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Hungarian

Etymology

hal (“to die”) +‎ -t (past-tense and past-participle suffix)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhɒlt]
• Hyphenation: halt
• Rhymes: -ɒlt

Verb

halt

1. third-person singular indicative past indefinite of hal

Usage notes

This form normally occurs when a verbal prefix is separated from the verb:

• halt (…) meg, meg … halt ― meghalt ― meghal
• and some more, see its derivatives with verbal prefixes.

Participle

halt

1. past participle of hal

Declension

Inflection (stem in -a-, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	halt	haltak
accusative	haltat	haltakat
dative	haltnak	haltaknak
instrumental	halttal	haltakkal
causal-final	haltért	haltakért
translative	halttá	haltakká
terminative	haltig	haltakig
essive-formal	haltként	haltakként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	haltban	haltakban
superessive	halton	haltakon
adessive	haltnál	haltaknál
illative	haltba	haltakba
sublative	haltra	haltakra
allative	halthoz	haltakhoz
elative	haltból	haltakból
delative	haltról	haltakról
ablative	halttól	haltaktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	halté	haltaké
non-attributive possessive - plural	haltéi	haltakéi

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Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [hal̪ˠt̪ˠ]

Noun

halt m

1. h-prothesized form of alt

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse haltr, from Proto-Germanic *haltaz.

Pronunciation

• Homophones: hallt, halvt

Adjective

halt (indefinite singular halt, definite singular and plural halte, comparative haltare, indefinite superlative haltast, definite superlative haltaste)

1. limp, limping

Verb

halt

1. imperative of halta

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

halt (definite singular and plural halte)

1. past participle of hala

Verb

halt

1. supine of hala

References

• “halt” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Old French

Etymology

From a conflation of Frankish *hauh, *hōh (“high, tall, elevated”) and Latin altus (“high, raised, profound”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈhalt/

Adjective

halt m (oblique and nominative feminine singular halte)

1. high; elevated

Adverb

halt

1. loud; loudly

Derived terms

• haltement

Descendants

• Middle French: hault
  • French: haut

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Old Norse

Adjective

halt

1. strong neuter nominative/accusative singular of haltr

Verb

halt

1. second-person singular imperative active of halda