Em‐bar″go (?), n.; pl.Embargoes (#). [Sp., fr. embargar to arrest, restrain; pref. em- (L. in) + Sp. barra bar, akin to F. barre bar. See Bar.] An edict or order of the government prohibiting the departure of ships of commerce from some or all of the ports within its dominions; a prohibition to sail.
☞ If the embargo is laid on an enemy's ships, it is called a hostile embargo; if on the ships belonging to citizens of the embargoing state, it is called a civil embargo.