▲ 20 r/etymology
EMBARRASS, EMBARGO and EMBROIL all share the same Romance prefix carrying the ancient sense of being held back or tangled in something you cannot easily escape. What other clusters of familiar English words share a root that most people would never think to connect?
The prefix traces back to a root meaning to bar or obstruct, which is clear enough in embargo but far less obvious in embarrass and embroil.
u/Every_Board2186 — 1 day ago