Dictionary

discontinue en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˌdɪskənˈtɪnju/
• [ˌdɪskʰənˈtʰɪnjʊu̯] ~ [ˌdɪskʰn̩ˈtʰɪnjʊu̯]
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Old French descontinuer, equivalent to dis- + continue.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To interrupt the continuance of; to put an end to, especially as regards commercial productions; to stop producing, making, or supplying.
   • Taught the Greek tongue, discontinued before in these parts the space of seven hundred years. 1603, Samuel Daniel, A Defence of Rime:
   • They modify and discriminate the voice, without appearing to discontinue it. 1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech:
   • I have discontinued school Above a twelvemonth. c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
   • Exactly 50 years ago, the U.S. Federal Reserve, which had previously issued bills with values as high as $10,000, made it all about the Benjamins. Every bill more valuable than $100 was officially discontinued. (They’d stopped being printed decades earlier, but many had kept circulating.) 2019 July 3, Mike D'Angelo, “Oscar Isaac and Ben Affleck blunder through a heavy heist in J.C. Chandor’s Triple Frontier”, in AV Club, archived from the original on 21 Nov 2019:
   • They plan to discontinue that design.
   • Beeching concludes, rather brutally, that "a high proportion of stopping passenger train services ought to be discontinued as soon as possible... and as soon as procedure permits". 2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 47:
   • If the penny is discontinued, it will join the ranks of other obsolete American coins, including the trime, a 3-cent coin discontinued in 1873, and the gold dollar coin, which was discontinued in 1889; that differed from the dollar coin currently in circulation. 2025 February 11, Jiachuan Wu and Ash Reynolds, “As Trump aims to ax the penny, these are the coins that cost more than they're worth”, in NBC News:
   • Passenger traffic was subsequently discontinued, and early in the recent war a considerable amount of the permanent way at the Treforest end of the railway was taken up. 1946 January and February, “Notes and News: Demolition of Rhydyfelin Viaduct”, in Railway Magazine, page 52:
2. (transitive) To consciously cease the ingestion or administration of (a pharmaceutical drug).
   • AZT, the only AIDS treatment fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is extremely toxic, and many people with AIDS cannot cake it or must discontinue taking it after some period of time. 1989 April 8, Judy Harris, “Fenway to Administer Peptide T”, in Gay Community News, page 3:

Forms

Antonyms

continue

Deriveds

discontinuee · discontinuable

Relateds

discontinuation · deprecate

Synonyms

break off · intermit · terminate

Translations (54)

es descatalogar (stop a process) · cmn 停產 /停产 (stop a process) · bg преустановявам (stop a process) · fr discontinuer (stop a process) · fr arrêter (stop a process) · it interrompere (stop a process) · cmn 終止 /终止 (stop a process) · it sospendere (stop a process) · tr ara vermek (stop a process) · es discontinuar (stop a process) · nv ánéísįįh (stop a process) · es descontinuar (stop a process) · fr retirer du marché (stop a process) · ro întrerupe (stop a process) · pl zaprzestać (stop a process) · ca discontinuar (stop a process) · hu abbahagy (stop a process) · it cessare (stop a process) · fi lopettaa (stop a process) · ru прерва́ть (stop a process) · ru остана́вливать (stop a process) · fi poistaa (stop a process) · vi khai tử (stop a process) · fi keskeyttää käyttö (cease the ingestion or administration of a drug) · cs zastavit (stop a process) · pl zaprzestawać (stop a process) · cmn 停藥 /停药 (cease the ingestion or administration of a drug) · de einstellen (stop a process) · fi lakkauttaa (stop a process) · bg прекъсвам (stop a process) · it abbandonare (stop a process) · cs zrušit (stop a process) · fr cesser la production de (stop a process) · ru прекрати́ть (stop a process) · fi lopettaa käyttö (cease the ingestion or administration of a drug) · ru останови́ть (stop a process) · nl beëindigen (stop a process) · eo ĉesigi (stop a process) · ru прекраща́ть (stop a process) · cmn 中斷 /中断 (stop a process) · pt descontinuar (stop a process) · mi keremutu (stop a process) · it dismettere (stop a process) · nl stopzetten (stop a process) · pl przerwać (stop a process) · fr interrompre (stop a process) · gd leig seachad (stop a process) · de auslaufen lassen (stop a process) · pl przerywać (stop a process) · ru прерыва́ть (stop a process) · ja 打ち切る (stop a process) · ko 중단하다 (stop a process) · io cesigar (stop a process) · cmn 停止用藥 /停止用药 (cease the ingestion or administration of a drug)