Embargoed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A measure that officially prevents specific trade or interactions with certain entities, often for political or economic reasons
2. An official restriction that halts exchanges of particular goods or services with designated countries or groups, typically for diplomatic reasons
3. A formal prohibition that obstructs the transfer of certain goods or services between nations or groups, usually imposed for political or economic reasons

Etymology: "Embargoed" is the past tense and past participle of "embargo," so its story is really the story of the noun. The word came into English from Spanish "embargar," meaning "to arrest" or "to seize," which in turn descends from a late Latin verb built on "barra," a bar or barrier. The original image is physical: something was barred, blocked off, held in place, and that sense of obstruction carried over into the legal and political meanings the word has today. Those legal meanings grew out of the Spanish sense of seizing property. A ship or goods could be arrested and held rather than allowed to pass, and the idea of stopping movement by force of authority is what separates the modern political sense from its earlier uses. When a state bars trade with another nation, it is doing the same thing a Spanish official once did to a cargo at the quay: holding it where it lies until the matter is settled.

Synonyms: restricted, prohibited, banned

Antonyms: permitted, allowed, authorized