different between obstacle vs bollard

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 bollard, probably from Middle English bole (“tree trunk”), equivalent to bole +? -ard (pejorative or diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

• (rhotic) IPA^(key): /?b?l??d/
• (non-rhotic) IPA^(key): /?b?l??d/, /?b?l?d/

Noun

bollard (plural bollards)

1. (nautical) A strong vertical post of timber or iron, fixed to the ground and/or on the deck of a ship, to which the ship's mooring lines etc are secured.
2. A similar post preventing vehicle access to a pedestrian area, to delineate traffic lanes, or used for security purposes.

Derived terms

• bollard condition

Translations

See also

• (traffic bollard): cone