embargo: [16] Something that has been embargoed has been literally ‘placed behind bars’ (compare EMBARRASS). The word comes from Vulgar Latin *imbarricāre, which was formed from the Latin prefix in- ‘in’ and Vulgar Latin *barra (source of English bar). This passed into Spanish as embargar ‘impede, restrain’, and its derived noun embargo was borrowed into English. => bar, barrier
