Thread: прекращать - прекратить = to stop

Where these verbs come from? Firstly I thought they could come from короткий, "to make shorter", but I see in every place as their meaning "to stop, to interrumpt". In no case a relation with "short"; perhaps they come from край, "to put a limit"? Thank you.

I don't think so. Краткий is a better explanation. Imagine there is a process which was started and is going on. With some time it will be over by itself so it has a natural duration. But someone artificially made it shorter: stopped.

Also prefix пре- (пере-) has a meaning "over" in the sense of cross over. We have "прекратить" = "to shorten it over" which has some sense. No?

But going more deeply краткий and край indeed may have a common origin.

Originally Posted by Этимологический словарь Фасмера

Слово: прекратить,

Ближайшая этимология: первонач. знач.: "сократить". Заимств. из цслав.; ср. пере- и короткий.

http://vasmer.narod.ru/

Very very interesting !! Thank you. I will keep your answer.