different between obstacle vs barrier

English

Etymology

From Middle English obstacle, from Old French obstacle, from Latin obst?culum.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??bst?kl?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??bst?kl?/
• Hyphenation: ob?sta?cle

Noun

obstacle (plural obstacles)

1. Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress

   A big obstacle to understanding the manual was that it had been poorly translated from the Japanese.

Synonyms

• impediment
• hindrance
• hurdle
• barrier
• complication
• snag
• See also Thesaurus:hindrance

Translations

Anagrams

• Casebolt, costable

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin obst?culum.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /ops?ta.kl?/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /ups?ta.kl?/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ops?ta.kle/

Noun

obstacle m (plural obstacles)

1. obstacle

Derived terms

• obstaculitzar

Further reading

• “obstacle” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin obstaculum, from obst?

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p.stakl/

Noun

obstacle m (plural obstacles)

1. obstacle

Derived terms

• course d'obstacles
• faire obstacle
• saut d'obstacles

Further reading

• “obstacle” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

From Middle English barryer, barrere, barry?er, from Old French barriere (compare French barrière), from Old French barre (“bar”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?bæ?i.?(?)/
• (US, Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA^(key): /?bæ?i.??/
• (US, Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /?b??i.??/
• Rhymes: -æ?i?(?)

Noun

barrier (plural barriers)

1. A structure that bars passage.

   The bus went through a railway barrier and was hit by a train.

   The bomber had passed through one checkpoint before blowing himself up at a second barrier.

2. An obstacle or impediment.

   Even a small fee can be a barrier for some students.
3. A boundary or limit.

   Few marathon runners break the three-hour time barrier.

1. (grammar) A node (in government and binding theory) said to intervene between other nodes A and B if it is a potential governor for B, c-commands B, and does not c-command A.
2. (physiology) A separation between two areas of the body where specialized cells allow the entry of certain substances but prevent the entry of others.
3. (historical) The lists in a tournament.
4. (historical, in the plural) A martial exercise of the 15th and 16th centuries.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:hindrance

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

barrier (third-person singular simple present barriers, present participle barriering, simple past and past participle barriered)

1. (transitive) To block or obstruct with a barrier.

   Synonym: bar