embargo
Definitions
An official ban on trade or commercial activity with a particular country.
（对某国贸易的）禁运令，封港令。
An official ban on publishing or releasing information until a set time.
（对消息发布的）禁令，新闻禁发期。
To impose an official ban on trade or on releasing something.
对……实施禁运；禁止发布。
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedBorrowed from Spanish embargar (em- 'in' + barra 'bar') = to bar, to impede. An embargo bars ships from leaving harbor or bars goods from crossing a border — an official block on trade. Journalism borrowed it for a 'news embargo': information barred from release until an agreed time.
Root bar still carries 38 more wordsWhy It Means This
Embargo is the barra strand wearing Spanish clothes. Same image as a literal bar across the harbor mouth, but applied to whole economies: an arms embargo, a trade embargo, an oil embargo. The journalistic sense ('this report is under embargo until Monday') reuses the metaphor — the news is barred from leaving until released.
Usage Guide
Note the plural and verb forms keep the -oe-: embargoes, embargoed (like 'tomatoes'). 'Under embargo' is a fixed phrase in journalism for news held until a release time.
Example Sentences
- 1.
The country imposed a trade embargo on its neighbor.
- 2.
An arms embargo cut off all weapons shipments to the region.
- 3.
The press release is under embargo until Friday morning.