Block

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /blɒk/

Definitions

1. A solid piece of material with flat surfaces, or to prevent movement or progress
2. A large mass of hard substance, often rectangular, used in construction or as a unit of volume ; to stop or hinder an action or passage ; a city area bounded by streets
3. A thick, rigid chunk of matter typically with straight edges often used as a building element ; to obstruct or impede an object's course or an activity from continuing ; a group of buildings or residences enclosed by intersecting streets

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "block" is how far it has travelled from a simple lump of wood. Its earliest ancestor, a Proto-Indo-European root, meant a thick plank, beam or pile, and the Germanic branch narrowed this to "log" or "tree trunk." Medieval Dutch speakers used the same word for a treetrunk, and Middle English took it as "log, stump, solid piece," which is still close to the modern sense of a solid chunk of material. From that sturdy core, the word spread in two directions. The Old French form "bloc" carried the idea of a log or lump into French, where it later gave rise to the English borrowing "bloc," a solid group of voting nations or political parties, which is why the two words look so alike. Meanwhile, the English word's solid, heavy sense extended to obstructions: a thing that stops passage, like a log lying across a road. Old English had a close relative, "bolca," meaning a plank or the gangway of a ship, and Old Norse "bǫlkr" meant a partition or divider. These cousins show the shared idea of a timber that blocks or divides, and the English verb to block, meaning to obstruct, grew naturally from that picture.

Synonyms: obstruct, bar, hinder, impede, prevent

Antonyms: allow, permit, facilitate, aid, assist