"order forbidding ships from certain other nations from entering or leaving a nation's ports," 1590s, from Spanish embargo "seizure, arrest; embargo," noun of action from embargar "restrain, impede, arrest, embargo," from Vulgar Latin *imbarricare, from assimilated form of in- "into, upon" (see in-(2)) + *barra (see bar, n.1). As a verb, from 1640s. Related: Embargoed.