Etymograph

English

obstruction

Obstruction comes from Latin obstructio ‘hindrance’, from obstruo ‘build against, block, stop’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *strew- ‘to spread, strew’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*strew-1‘to spread, strew’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobstruo1‘build against, block, stop’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobstructio1‘hindrance’
  4. Englishtodayobstruction1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English obstruction

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*strew-Wiktionary, English obstruction‘to spread, strew’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobstruoWiktionary, English obstruction‘build against, block, stop’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobstructioWiktionary, English obstruction‘hindrance’
  4. EnglishtodayobstructionWiktionary, English obstruction

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *strew- ‘to spread, strew’

destroy, structure, construction, instrument, strain, straw, destruction, stray, instructor, construct, destructive, instruct, perestroika, stripling, construe, 13 more

Today it means

noun The act of obstructing, or state of being obstructed.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “obstruction”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *strew- / obstruction

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