Blockader

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual or group that hinders movement by creating barriers to control access to a location or resource
2. A person who prevents the entry or transit of others by setting up obstructions or regulatory measures
3. Someone who stops or slows entry by placing obstacles to control movement

Etymology: "Blockader" is simply "blockade" with the agent suffix "-er" added, meaning one who carries out a blockade. The ending traces back a long way: it descends from the Proto-Indo-European root for the suffix, passing through Proto-Italic and Latin "-arius", which denoted a person connected with a thing or activity. That Latin suffix entered Old English through Proto-Germanic and the West Germanic "-ārī", where it appeared as "-ere", and this English "-er" is the same ending that has been attached to countless native and borrowed nouns over the centuries. The base word "blockade" came into English through French, and its own ancestry is a useful reminder of how the English "-er" ending became so productive. Because "blockader" is formed on the spot from "blockade", it is not a separate inherited word, and its meaning follows directly from its parent: someone who blocks passage, typically by military or regulatory means.

Synonyms: obstructor, interferer

Antonyms: facilitator, helper