different between thwart vs stall

English

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Early Middle English thwert, thwerte, thuart, thurt, thurte, thwart, thwarte, twart, twarte, twhart, twhert, twort, þuert, þwerrt, þwert, þwerte, ðwert (“crosswise, transverse; counter, opposing; contrary, obstinate”), borrowed from Old Norse þvert (“across, athwart”), originally the neuter form of þverr (“across, transverse”), from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz (“cross; adverse”) (altered or influenced by Proto-Germanic *þweran? (“to stir; to swirl; to turn”)), from Proto-Germanic *þerh-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *terk?- (“to spin; to turn”).

The English adjective is cognate with Danish tvær (“sullen, sulky”), Gothic ???????????????????????? (þwairs, “angry”), Middle Dutch dwers, dwars (modern Dutch dwars (“crosswise, transverse; slantwise, askew; stubbornly disobedient”)), Norwegian tvert, tvært, Old Frisian þweres, dwers (Saterland Frisian twars, West Frisian dwers, dwerz (“across, to the other side of; beyond”)), Middle Low German dwers, dwars (Low German dwars (“contrary; cross-grained”)), Old English þweorh (“transverse; perverse; angry, cross”), Old High German twer (Middle High German twer, quer, modern German quer (“crosswise; cross”)), Swedish tvär (“across, transverse; of a curve: sharp; immediate, sudden; grumpy, stubborn”). It is related to queer.

The adverb is derived from Middle English thwert, ywerte (“crosswise; across the grain”); the Middle English Dictionary suggests the adverb was derived from the adjective, while the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the adverb is attested earlier than the adjective.

The verb is derived from Middle English thwerten, thwert, thwarten, þwerten (“to lie across; to oppose, to thwart”), and further from the adverb and perhaps also the adjective.

Noun sense 1 (“a seat across a boat on which a rower may sit”) may be derived from the adverb or adjective, from the position of the seat across the length of the boat, while noun sense 3 (“(rare) an act of thwarting”) is derived from the verb. Compare Middle English thwert (“in in thwert: crosswise”), from the adjective.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w??t/
• (General American) enPR: thwôrt, IPA^(key): /?w?(?)?t/
• Rhymes: -??(r)t

Adjective

thwart (comparative more thwart, superlative most thwart)

1. Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse.
2. (figuratively, dated) Of people: having a tendency to oppose; obstinate, perverse, stubborn.

   Synonyms: cross-grained, froward; see also Thesaurus:obstinate
3. (figuratively, dated) Of situations or things: adverse, unfavourable, unlucky.

   Synonyms: unpropitious, untoward; see also Thesaurus:unlucky

Derived terms

• athwart
• athwartship, athwartships

Related terms

• overthwart
• overthwartly
• overthwartness

Translations

Adverb

thwart (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Across the direction of travel or length of; athwart, crosswise, obliquely, transversely.

Translations

Preposition

thwart

1. (archaic or poetic) Across, athwart.

Verb

thwart (third-person singular simple present thwarts, present participle thwarting, simple past and past participle thwarted)

1. (transitive) To cause to fail; to frustrate, to prevent.

   Synonyms: balk, foil, spoil

   Antonym: promote
2. (transitive, obsolete) To place (something) across (another thing); to position crosswise.
3. (transitive, also figuratively, obsolete) To hinder or obstruct by placing (something) in the way of; to block, to impede, to oppose.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:hinder

4. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To move (something) across or counter to; to cross.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• thwarter
• thwartsome

Translations

Noun

thwart (plural thwarts)

1. (nautical) A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.

   Synonyms: thaught, thawt, (Britain, dialectal) thoft
2. (nautical) A brace, perpendicular to the keel, that helps maintain the beam (“breadth”) of a marine vessel against external water pressure and that may serve to support the rail.
3. (rare) An act of thwarting; something which thwarts; a hindrance, an obstacle.

Translations

References

Further reading

• thwart on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /st??l/
• Rhymes: -??l
• (US) IPA^(key): /st?l/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /st?l/

Etymology 1

From Middle English stall, stalle, from Old English steall (“standing place, position”), from Proto-Germanic *stallaz, from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place, put, post, stand”).

Noun

stall (plural stalls)

1. (countable) A compartment for a single animal in a stable or cattle shed.

   Synonym: boose

2. A stable; a place for cattle.
3. A bench or table on which small articles of merchandise are exposed for sale.
5. (countable) A small open-fronted shop, for example in a market, food court, etc.
   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars:

     He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days [...]
6. A very small room used for a shower or a toilet.
   • 1990, John Updike, Rabbit at Rest:

     Rabbit eases from the king-size bed, goes into their bathroom with its rose-colored one-piece Fiberglas tub and shower stall, and urinates into the toilet of a matching rose porcelain.

7. (countable) A seat in a theatre close to and (about) level with the stage; traditionally, a seat with arms, or otherwise partly enclosed, as distinguished from the benches, sofas, etc.
8. (aeronautics) Loss of lift due to an airfoil's critical angle of attack being exceeded.
9. (Germanic paganism) An Heathen altar, typically an indoor one, as contrasted with a more substantial outdoor harrow.
10. A seat in a church, especially one next to the chancel or choir, reserved for church officials and dignitaries.
11. A church office that entitles the incumbent to the use of a church stall.
    • 1910 [1840], Alexandre Dumas, père, translator not mentioned, Celebrated Crimes: Urbain Grandier, P. F. Collier edition,

      When he had been some months installed there as a priest-in-charge, he received a prebendal stall, thanks to the same patrons, in the collegiate church of Sainte-Croix.

12. A sheath to protect the finger.
13. (mining) The space left by excavation between pillars.
14. (Canada) A parking stall; a space for a vehicle in a parking lot or parkade.

Derived terms

• deep stall
• shock stall

Translations

Related terms

• stall-fed
• orchestra stalls

Verb

stall (third-person singular simple present stalls, present participle stalling, simple past and past participle stalled)

1. (transitive) To put (an animal, etc.) in a stall.
2. To fatten.

3. (intransitive) To come to a standstill.
4. (transitive) To cause to stop making progress, to hinder, to slow down, to delay or forestall.
5. To plunge into mire or snow so as not to be able to get on; to set; to fix.
   • 1884, Edward Everett Hale, The Fortunes of Rachel:

     His horses had been stalled in the snow.

6. (intransitive, of an engine) To stop suddenly.
7. (transitive, automotive) To cause the engine of a manual-transmission car to stop by going too slowly for the selected gear.
8. (intransitive, aviation) To exceed the critical angle of attack, resulting in loss of lift.
9. (transitive, aviation) To cause to exceed the critical angle of attack, resulting in loss of lift.

10. (obsolete) To live in, or as if in, a stall; to dwell.
11. (obsolete) To be stuck, as in mire or snow; to stick fast.
12. (obsolete) To be tired of eating, as cattle.
13. To place in an office with the customary formalities; to install.
14. To forestall; to anticipate.
    • 1636, Philip Massinger, The Bashful Lover

      not to be stall'd by my report

15. To keep close; to keep secret.

Derived terms

• forestall
• stall for time

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English stallen (“to abide, dwell, place in a location, stop, come to a standstill”), partly from Old French estaler, ultimately from the same origin as Etymology 1 (see above); and partly from Middle English stalle (“fixed position, stall”).

Noun

stall (plural stalls)

1. An action that is intended to cause or actually causes delay.

   His encounters with security, reception, the secretary, and the assistant were all stalls until the general manager's attorney arrived.

Translations

Verb

stall (third-person singular simple present stalls, present participle stalling, simple past and past participle stalled)

1. (transitive) To employ delaying tactics against.

   He stalled the creditors as long as he could.

2. (intransitive) To employ delaying tactics.

   Soon it became clear that she was stalling to give him time to get away.

Synonyms

• (transitive): delay, postpone, put off
• (intransitive): delay, penelopize, procrastinate

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “stall”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• talls

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse stallr

Noun

stall m (definite singular stallen, indefinite plural staller, definite plural stallene)

1. a stable (building where horses are housed)

Derived terms

• lokomotivstall

References

• “stall” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse stallr

Noun

stall m (definite singular stallen, indefinite plural stallar, definite plural stallane)

1. a stable (building where horses are housed)

Derived terms

• lokomotivstall

References

• “stall” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish stalder, from Old Norse stallr.

Pronunciation

Noun

stall n

1. stable, building for housing horses
2. a team in certain sports, in particular racing.
3. bridge (of a violin etc.)

Declension

Descendants

• ? Finnish: talli
  • ? Ingrian: talli

Anagrams

• talls

Westrobothnian

Etymology

From Old Norse stallr, from Proto-Germanic *stallaz.

Noun

stall m (definite singular stalln, definite plural stalla)

1. a stable (building where horses are housed)