Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Interrupt \In`ter*rupt"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Interrupted}; p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Interrupting}.] [L. interruptus, p. p. of
   interrumpere to interrupt; inter between + rumpere to break.
   See {Rupture}.]
   1. To break into, or between; to stop, or hinder by breaking
      in upon the course or progress of; to interfere with the
      current or motion of; to cause a temporary cessation of;
      as, to interrupt the remarks speaking.

            Do not interrupt me in my course.     --Shak.

   2. To divide; to separate; to break the monotony of; as, the
      evenness of the road was not interrupted by a single hill.

Interrupt \In`ter*rupt"\, p. a. [L. interruptus, p. p.]
   Broken; interrupted. [Obs.] --Milton.

Source : WordNet®

interrupt
     v 1: make a break in; "We interrupt the program for the following
          messages" [syn: {disrupt}, {break up}, {cut off}]
     2: destroy the peace or tranquility of; "Don't interrupt me
        when I'm reading" [syn: {disturb}]
     3: interfere in someone else's activity; "Please don't
        interrupt me while I'm on the phone" [syn: {disrupt}]
     4: terminate; "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky
        streak"; "break the cycle of poverty" [syn: {break}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

interrupt
     
         1. An {asynchronous} event that suspends normal
        processing and temporarily diverts the {flow of control}
        through an "{interrupt handler}" routine.
     
        Interrupts may be caused by both {hardware} (I/O, timer,
        machine check) and {software} (supervisor, {system call} or
        {trap} instruction).
     
        In general the computer responds to an interrupt by storing
        the information about the current state of the running
        program; storing information to identify the source of the
        interrupt; and invoking a first-level {interrupt handler}.
        This is usually a {kernel} level privileged process that can
        discover the precise cause of the interrupt (e.g. if several
        devices share one interrupt) and what must be done to keep
        operating system tables (such as the process table) updated.
        This first-level handler may then call another handler,
        e.g. one associated with the particular device which generated
        the interrupt.
     
        2. Under {MS-DOS}, nearly synonymous with "{system call}"
        because the {OS} and {BIOS} routines are both called using the
        INT instruction (see {interrupt list}) and because programmers
        so often have to bypass the operating system (going directly
        to a BIOS interrupt) to get reasonable performance.
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1995-02-07)