One entry found for abrupt.

Main Entry: abrupt
Pronunciation: -brpt
Function: adjective
Etymology: from Latin abruptus "abrupt," derived from abrumpere "to break off," from ab- "from" and rumpere "to break" --related to CORRUPT, INTERRUPT, RUPTURE
1 a : SUDDEN 1a <an abrupt change in the weather> b : rudely brief : CURT <an abrupt manner>
2 : ¹STEEP 1 <the high abrupt bank of a stream>
- abrupt·ly /-brup-(t)l/ adverb
- abrupt·ness /-brp(t)-ns/ noun
Word History If a person is rudely brief in speech or manner or stops you before you finish talking, you could say that that person is abrupt. If a road ends suddenly, you could say that the road comes to an abrupt end. In both of these cases you might think of something that is abrupt as "breaking off." Abrupt comes from the Latin word abruptus, meaning "broken off, ending suddenly." That word is formed (with the addition of the prefix ab-, meaning "from") from the Latin word rumpere, meaning "to break." Latin rumpere has given us several other English words that carry the idea of breaking: interrupt, rupture, and corrupt.