breakthrough

See also: break through

English

Alternative forms

• breakthru (US, nonstandard)

Etymology

From break +‎ through. Compare German Durchbruch and Dutch doorbraak (“breakthrough”, literally “through-break”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɹeɪkθɹuː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

breakthrough (not comparable)

1. Characterized by major progress or overcoming some obstacle.

   a breakthrough technological advance

Translations

characterized by major progress

• Finnish: läpimurto- (fi)
• French: capital (fr), primordial (fr), décisif (fr)
• German: bahnbrechend (de), durchschlagend (de)

• Hebrew: פורץ-דרך‎‎ m (poretz-derekh), פורצת-דרך‎‎ f (poretzet-derekh)
• Hungarian: áttörő

Noun

breakthrough (plural breakthroughs)

1. (military) An advance through and past enemy lines.
2. Any major progress; such as a great innovation or discovery that overcomes a significant obstacle.

   Albert Einstein is credited with making some of the greatest breakthroughs in modern physics.

3. (sports) The penetration of the opposition defence
   • 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     But with the lively Dos Santos pulling the strings behind strikers Pavlyuchenko and Defoe, Spurs controlled the first half without finding the breakthrough their dominance deserved.

4. (construction) The penetration of a separating wall or the remaining distance to an adjacent hollow (a crosscut in mining) or between two parts of a tunnel build from both ends; knockthrough.

Derived terms

• breakthrough pain

Translations

military advance

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 突破 (zh) (tūpò)

• Danish: gennembrud n
• Dutch: doorbraak (nl) c
• Finnish: läpimurto (fi)
• French: percée (fr) f, trouée (fr) f
• German: Durchbruch (de) m

• Hungarian: áttörés (hu)
• Italian: breccia f
• Japanese: 突破 (ja) (とっぱ, toppa)
• Portuguese: brecha (pt) f
• Russian: проры́в (ru) m (prorýv)
• Spanish: brecha (es) f

major progress

• Catalan: avenç (ca) m, progrés (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 突破 (zh) (tūpò)

• Czech: průlom m
• Danish: gennembrud n
• Dutch: doorbraak (nl) c
• Finnish: läpimurto (fi)
• French: percée (fr) f, avancée (fr) f
• German: Durchbruch (de) m
• Hebrew: פריצת-דרך‎‎ f (pritzat-derekh)

• Hungarian: áttörés (hu)
• Irish: urfhuascailt f
• Italian: svolta (it) f
• Japanese: 突破 (ja) (とっぱ, toppa)
• Navajo: bibazhdooyá, bááhátis jííyá
• Polish: przełom (pl) m
• Portuguese: avanço (pt) m
• Russian: проры́в (ru) m (prorýv)
• Swedish: genombrott (sv)

(sports) penetration of the opposition defence

• French: trouée (fr) f, percée (fr) f

• Russian: проры́в (ru) m (prorýv)

(engineering) penetration of a physical barrier

• Danish: gennembrud n

• German: Durchbruch (de) m, Durchstich m