halt

See also: Halt, hält, and hált

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /hɒlt/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • (Conservative RP) IPA^(key): /hɔːlt/
• (US, lot–cloth split) IPA^(key): /hɔlt/
• (General American, cot–caught merger, dialects of Canada) IPA^(key): /hɑlt/
• (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /hɒlt/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /hɔlt/
• Rhymes: -ɒlt

Etymology 1

From Middle English halten, from Old English healtian (“to be lame, walk with a limp”), from Proto-West Germanic *haltōn, related to *halt. 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) (obsolete)

1. (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.

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, 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”). Doublet of hold (see that entry for more information).

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:

     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): pause
• (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

Derived terms

• haltable
• unhalted

Translations

to stop either temporarily or permanently

• Bulgarian: отлагам (bg) (otlagam), прекъсвам (bg) (prekǎsvam), слагам на трупчета (slagam na trupčeta), спирам (bg) (spiram)
• Cornish: hedhi
• Danish: skrinlægge
• Esperanto: halti
• Finnish: hyllyttää (fi), pysähtyä (fi), seisahtua (fi)
• French: faire halte (fr), suspendre (fr)
• German: anhalten (de), stoppen (de), rasten (de)
• Irish: tarraing suas
• Italian: accantonare (it), fermare (it), riporre (it)
• Japanese: 休止する (kyūshisuru), 停止する (teishisuru)
• Latin: subsisto
• Macedonian: за́пира impf (zápira), за́пре pf (zápre)
• Malayalam: നിർത്തുക (ml) (niṟttuka)
• Māori: urutū
• Norwegian: bremse, stoppe (no)

  Bokmål: henlegge (no), skrinlegge

• Polish: odkładać na półkę
• Portuguese: estagnar (pt)
• Quechua: sayay
• Romanian: opri (ro)
• Russian: класть на полку (klastʹ na polku), встать (как вко́панный) pf (vstatʹ (kak vkópannyj)) (about someone), замереть (ru) pf (zameretʹ), замирать (ru) impf (zamiratʹ)
• Spanish: cajonear (es), dar carpetazo, engavetar (es), parar (es)
• Swedish: skrinlägga (sv)

to cause something to stop

• Bulgarian: спирам (bg) (spiram)
• Esperanto: haltigi
• Finnish: pysäyttää (fi), seisauttaa (fi)
• French: arrêter (fr), halter (fr), stopper (fr)
• German: anhalten (de), stoppen (de), stocken (de)
• Ingrian: piättää, asettaa, seisottaa
• Irish: tarraing suas
• Italian: fermare (it)
• Japanese: 押し止める (ja) (oshitodomeru), さまたげる (ja) (samatageru)
• Macedonian: за́пира impf (zápira), за́пре pf (zápre)
• Malayalam: നിർത്തുക (ml) (niṟttuka)
• Māori: 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)
• Macedonian: се дво́уми (se dvóumi)
• 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 [Sheldonian] Theater:

     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.

   • 1956 May, D. B. McNeill, “The Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 332:

     The highest point on the line is at milepost 21¾, 367 ft. above sea level. Here there is a halt named Kilmakerrill, after which the line descends to Manorhamilton (24¾ miles).

   • 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

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

Derived terms

• call a halt
• grind to a halt
• half-halt
• haltless
• Sarsden Halt

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)
• Macedonian: запи́рање n (zapíranje), за́стој m (zástoj)
• Romanian: oprire (ro) f
• Spanish: alto (es) m, halto m

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)
• Indonesian: halte (id)
• Macedonian: по́стојка f (póstojka)
• 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-West Germanic *halt, 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, 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

halt (plural halts)

1. (dated) Lameness; a limp.

Derived terms

• foothalt

Etymology 4

Borrowed from French halte. See also Etymology 2.

Noun

halt (plural halts)

1. (UK, Ireland) A small railroad station, usually unstaffed or with very few staff, and with few or no facilities.
   • 2024 June 10, Wikipedia contributors, “Train station”, in English Wikipedia‎^[1], Wikimedia Foundation:

     Halts were normally unstaffed, tickets being sold on the train.

Derived terms

• haltkeeper

Anagrams

• thal, lath, Thal

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.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦalt]

Interjection

halt

1. alternative form of holt

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse haltr

Adjective

halt

1. lame

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from German halt. Doublet of houd, imperative of houden.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦɑlt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Interjection

halt

1. stop! freeze!

Noun

halt n (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. halt, pause, cessation

Derived terms

• een halt toeroepen

References

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “halt”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

East Central German

Etymology

From Middle High German halt, from Old High German halt, pertaining to Old High German halto (“soon, fast”). Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *haldiz, according to Duden, ultimately related to *halþaz (“inclined, sloping”). Compare German halt.

Adjective

halt

1. (Erzgebirgisch) so, just, simply

   Sis halt su.

   It's just like that.

Further reading

• Hendrik Heidler (11 June 2020), 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^[2] (in German), 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 57

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /halt/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Homophone: Halt
• Rhymes: -alt

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
• → Swedish: halt
• → Middle French: halt
  • French: halte
    • → Dutch: halte
    • → Greek: αλτ (alt)
  • → English: halt

Etymology 2

From Middle High German halt, pertaining to Old High German halto (“soon, fast”). Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *haldiz (related to *halþaz (“inclined”)), 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^[3] (in German)

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

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [hal̪ˠt̪ˠ]

Noun

halt m

1. h-prothesized form of alt

Middle English

Alternative forms

• hallt (Ormulum)
• alte (Late Middle English)

Etymology

Inherited from Old English healt, form Proto-West Germanic *halt, from Proto-Germanic *haltaz (“crooked”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /halt/

Adjective

halt (plural and weak singular halte)

1. Limping, lame, crippled.
2. (figuratively) Faulty, shoddy, poor.

Related terms

• halten

Descendants

• English: halt (archaic)
• Middle Scots: halt

References

• “halt, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

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.

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

Old Norse

Adjective

halt

1. strong neuter nominative/accusative singular of haltr

Verb

halt

1. second-person singular imperative active of halda

Swedish

Etymology

From German Halt

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

halt c

1. 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

2. stopping (during a march, or more generally)

   Hären gjorde halt

   The army stopped ("made halt")

Declension

Declension of halt

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	halt	halts
	definite	halten	haltens
plural	indefinite	halter	halters
	definite	halterna	halternas

Related terms

• -haltig

Interjection

halt

1. halt! (stop!) (during a march, or more generally)

Adjective

halt (not comparable)

1. having a limp, lame, halt

Declension

Inflection of halt

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	halt	—	—
neuter singular	halt	—	—
plural	halta	—	—
masculine plural2	halte	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	halte	—	—
all	halta	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Related terms

• halta

Adjective

halt

1. indefinite neuter singular of hal

References

• “halt”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “halt”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “halt”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)