German

Noun

Halt m ‎(genitive Halts or Haltes, plural Halte)

1. hold
2. support
3. halt, stop

Derived terms

• haltlos
• haltmachen

English

Verb

halt ‎(third-person singular simple present halts, present participle halting, simple past and past participle halted)

1. (intransitive) To limp; move with a limping gait.
2. (intransitive) To stand in doubt whether to proceed, or what to do; hesitate; be uncertain; linger; delay; mammer.
   • Bible, 1 Kings xviii. 21

     How long halt ye between two opinions?

3. (intransitive) To be lame, faulty, or defective, as in connection with ideas, or in measure, or in versification.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Old French halte, from Old High German halten ‎(“to hold”). More at hold.

Verb

halt ‎(third-person singular simple present halts, present participle halting, simple past and past participle halted)

1. (intransitive) To stop marching.
2. (intransitive) To stop either temporarily or permanently.
   • 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter I”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:

     And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs, ascending the stairs two at a time, peeped perfunctorily into the nursery as she passed the hallway—and halted amazed.

3. (transitive) To bring to a stop.
4. (transitive) To cause to discontinue.

   The contract negotiations halted operations for at least a week.‎

Translations

Noun

halt ‎(plural halts)

1. A cessation, either temporary or permanent.

   The contract negotiations put a halt to operations.‎

   • Clarendon

     Without any halt they marched.

2. (rail transport) A minor railway station (usually unstaffed) in the United Kingdom.

   The halt itself never achieved much importance, even with workers coming to and from the adjacent works.‎

Translations

Etymology 3

Old English healt (verb healtian), from Proto-Germanic *haltaz. Cognate with Danish halt, Swedish halt.

Adjective

halt ‎(comparative more halt, superlative most halt)

1. (archaic) Lame, limping.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Mark IX:

     It is better for the to goo halt into lyfe, then with ij. fete to be cast into **** [...].

   • Bible, Luke xiv. 21

     Bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

Verb

halt ‎(third-person singular simple present halts, present participle halting, simple past and past participle halted)

1. To limp.
   • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 4 scene 1

     Do not smile at me that I boast her off,

     For thou shalt find she will outstrip all praise,

     And make it halt behind her.

2. To waver.
3. To falter.

Translations

Noun

halt ‎(plural halts)

1. (dated) Lameness; a limp.

Anagrams

• lath

Alemannic German

Etymology

Middle High German halt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /halt/

Adverb

halt

1. just, simply
   • 1978, Rolf Lyssy & Christa Maerker, Die Schweizermacher, (transcript):

     Chömmer halt e chli früner. Schadet a nüt.

     Then we'll just arrive a little earlier. It won't do any harm.

Danish

Adjective

halt

1. lame

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /halt/

Etymology 1

From the verb halten ‎(“to hold; to stop”).

Verb

halt

1. Imperative singular of halten.

Interjection

halt!

1. stop!, wait!

Etymology 2

From Middle High German halt, pertaining to Old High German halto ‎(“soon, fast”).

Adverb

halt

1. (colloquial, modal particle) so, just, simply, indicating that something is generally known, or cannot be changed, or the like; often untranslatable

   Er ist halt ein Idiot...

   So he’s an idiot...

   Dann müssen wir halt härter arbeiten.

   Then we’ll just have to work harder.

Usage notes

• The word is originally southern German and is still so considered by some contemporary dictionaries. It has, however, become generally accepted throughout the language area during the past decades.

See also

• eben
• ja

Hungarian

Etymology

hal +‎ -t

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhɒlt]
• Hyphenation: halt

Verb

halt

1. third-person singular indicative past indefinite of hal
2. past participle of hal

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [hal̪ˠt̪ˠ]

Noun

halt m

1. h-prothesized form of alt

Old French

Adjective

halt m ‎(oblique and nominative feminine singular halte)

1. high; elevated

Adverb

halt

1. loud; loudly

Derived terms

• haltement