- halt (n.)
- "stop," 1622, from Fr. halte or It. alto, ult. from Ger. Halt, imperative from O.H.G. halten "to hold" (see hold). A Ger. military command borrowed into the Romance languages 16c.
- halt (adj.)
- "lame," in O.E. lemphalt "limping," from P.Gmc. *haltaz (cf. O.Fris. halt, O.N. haltr, O.H.G. halz, Goth. halts "lame"), from PIE *qelad, from base *qela- "to break" (cf. Rus. koldyka "lame," Gk. kolobos "broken, curtailed").