halt
English Edit
Pronunciation Edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /hɒlt/
- (US) IPA(key): /hɔlt/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /hɑlt/
Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ɒlt
Etymology 1 Edit
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 Edit
halt (third-person singular simple present halts, present participle halting, simple past and past participle halted)
- (intransitive) To limp; move with a limping gait.
- c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [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, [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.
- (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, 1 Kings 18:21:
- How long halt ye between two opinions?
- (intransitive) To be lame, faulty, or defective, as in connection with ideas, or in measure, or in versification.
- To waver.
- To falter.
Translations Edit
Etymology 2 Edit
From Middle French halt, from early modern German halt (“stop!”), imperative of halten (“to hold, to stop”). More at hold.
Verb Edit
halt (third-person singular simple present halts, present participle halting, simple past and past participle halted)
- (intransitive) To stop marching.
- (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:
- 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.
- (transitive) To bring to a stop.
- (transitive) To cause to discontinue.
- The contract negotiations halted operations for at least a week.
Synonyms Edit
- (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 Edit
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Noun Edit
halt (plural halts)
- 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:
- 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.
- (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, 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 Edit
- (cessation: temporary): hiatus, moratorium, recess; see also Thesaurus:pause
- (cessation: permanent): close, endpoint, terminus; see also Thesaurus:finish
Derived terms Edit
Translations Edit
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Etymology 3 Edit
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 Edit
halt (comparative more halt, superlative most halt)
- (archaic) Lame, limping.
- 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, 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, Luke 14:21:
- Bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
Noun Edit
halt (plural halts)
Anagrams Edit
Alemannic German Edit
Etymology Edit
From Middle High German halt. Cognate with German halt (adverb).
Pronunciation Edit
Adverb Edit
halt
- 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.
- 1978, Rolf Lyssy & Christa Maerker, Die Schweizermacher, (transcript):
Czech Edit
Pronunciation Edit
Interjection Edit
halt
- Alternative form of holt
Danish Edit
Etymology Edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Adjective Edit
halt
East Central German Edit
Etymology Edit
Adjective Edit
halt
- (Erzgebirgisch) so, just, simply
- Sis halt su.
- It's just like that.
Further reading Edit
- 2020 June 11, Hendrik Heidler, Hendrik Heidler's 400 Seiten: Echtes Erzgebirgisch: Wuu de Hasen Hoosn haaßn un de Hosen Huusn do sei mir drhamm: Das Original Wörterbuch: Ratgeber und Fundgrube der erzgebirgischen Mund- und Lebensart: Erzgebirgisch – Deutsch / Deutsch – Erzgebirgisch[1], 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 57:
German Edit
Pronunciation Edit
Etymology 1 Edit
From the verb halten (“to hold; to stop”).
Verb Edit
halt
Interjection Edit
halt!
Descendants Edit
Etymology 2 Edit
From Middle High German halt, pertaining to Old High German halto (“soon, fast”). Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *haldiz, an adverbial comparative like *batiz.
Adverb Edit
halt
- (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 Edit
- 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 Edit
- → Czech: holt
See also Edit
Further reading Edit
- “halt” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Hungarian Edit
Etymology Edit
hal (“to die”) + -t (past-tense and past-participle suffix)
Pronunciation Edit
Verb Edit
halt
Usage notes Edit
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 Edit
halt
- past participle of hal
Declension Edit
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 |
Irish Edit
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
halt m
- h-prothesized form of alt
Norwegian Nynorsk Edit
Etymology 1 Edit
From Old Norse haltr, from Proto-Germanic *haltaz.
Pronunciation Edit
Adjective Edit
halt (indefinite singular halt, definite singular and plural halte, comparative haltare, indefinite superlative haltast, definite superlative haltaste)
Verb Edit
halt
- imperative of halta
Etymology 2 Edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Participle Edit
halt (definite singular and plural halte)
- past participle of hala
Verb Edit
halt
References Edit
- “halt” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old French Edit
Etymology Edit
From a conflation of Frankish *hauh, *hōh (“high, tall, elevated”) and Latin altus (“high, raised, profound”).
Pronunciation Edit
Adjective Edit
halt m (oblique and nominative feminine singular halte)
Adverb Edit
halt
Derived terms Edit
Descendants Edit
Old Norse Edit
Adjective Edit
halt
Verb Edit
halt
Swedish Edit
Noun Edit
halt c
- content, level (relative amount of something, in a mixture or the like)
- alkoholhalt
- alcohol content
- fetthalt
- fat content
- sanningshalt
- veracity ("truth content")
- en hög halt av alkohol i blodet
- a high concentration of alcohol in the blood
- stopping (during a march, or more generally)
- Hären gjorde halt
- The army stopped ("made halt")
Declension Edit
Declension of halt | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | halt | halten | halter | halterna |
Genitive | halts | haltens | halters | halternas |
Related terms Edit
Interjection Edit
halt
Adjective Edit
halt (not comparable)
Declension Edit
Inflection of halt | |||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
Common singular | halt | — | — |
Neuter singular | halt | — | — |
Plural | halta | — | — |
Masculine plural3 | halte | — | — |
Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
Masculine singular1 | halte | — | — |
All | halta | — | — |
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic |
Related terms Edit
Adjective Edit
halt