Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

interrupt

/ˌɪntəˈɹʌpt/ verb

In Latin: interrumpō Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about interrupt at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly, especially by speaking.
A maverick politician repeatedly interrupted the debate by shouting.
To divide; to separate; to break the monotony of.
The evenness of the road was not interrupted by a single hill.
To assert to (a computer) that an exceptional condition must be handled.
The packet receiver circuit interrupted the microprocessor.

noun

An event that causes a computer or other device to temporarily cease what it was doing and attend to a condition.
The interrupt caused the packet handler routine to run.

Origin

From Middle English interrupten, derived from Latin interruptus, past participle of interrumpere (“to break apart/off, interrupt”), from inter (“between”) + rumpere (“to break”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word