Stoppian

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic verb meaning to plug up or block an opening, passage, or vessel so that nothing can pass through
2. An Old English verb for filling or closing off a gap so that flow or passage is prevented
3. A word from early English meaning to obstruct a passage by filling or sealing it shut

Etymology: Before it meant halting motion, this word meant plugging a gap. Its Latin ancestor, "stuppa", was the coarse fibre left when flax or hemp was combed, known in English as tow. That material was used to pack seams in ships and buildings to make them watertight. Late Latin turned the noun into a verb, "stuppare", meaning to stuff or caulk with tow. Old English borrowed the verb as "stoppian", and it kept the sense of blocking an opening: to stop up a hole, a wound, or a drain. The sense of bringing movement or action to an end developed from that older idea of filling a passage.

Synonyms: stop, halt, cease

Antonyms: start, begin