inter-

Inter- Arresting

Today we will focus on the prefix inter- which means “between.” Prefixes are morphemes which begin words, attaching to a word’s main part, or root, adding to the meaning of the word in some way.

The Internet is a linked system of networks that communicate “between” each other, connecting computers on a global scale. The computers and networks are interconnected, or linked “between” themselves. All this occurs on an international scale, or “between” nations—it is possible for anyone anywhere to access the World Wide Web.

People who work in large office buildings often have to send interoffice mail, or that correspondence that goes “between” different offices. Mail also travels in mail trucks along the interstates, or those highways that run “between” states. One finds many intersections along these highways, or those roads that cut “between” the interstates and head off in other directions.

College football offers interscholastic competition, or those contests “between” different schools. Speaking of football, when a cornerback intercepts a pass, he seizes the ball “between” the quarterback and his intended receiver, getting the ball back for his team. Halftime at a football game is simply an intermission, or that time of rest which is sent “between” the end of one half and the start of another. The halftime interrupts the flow of the game, or bursts “between” it.

Now that you have become interested in the prefix inter-, “between,” you can confidently interact with any word that comes your way with inter- in it!

1. Internet: networks that exist ‘between’ each other
2. interconnected: linked ‘between’
3. international: ‘between’ nations
4. interoffice: ‘between’ offices
5. interstate: ‘between’ states
6. intersection: a cutting ‘between’
7. interscholastic: ‘between’ schools
8. intercept: seize ‘between’
9. intermission: time sent ‘between’
10. interrupt: burst ‘between’
11. interested: be ‘between’
12. interact: act ‘between’

Usage

• interpolate

  If you interpolate words into a piece of writing, you insert those words into it; such altering of the text could falsify it.

• interdict

  An interdict is an official order that prevents someone from doing something.

• interlocutor

  An interlocutor is the person with whom you are having a (usually formal) conversation or discussion.

• internecine

  An internecine conflict or quarrel takes place between people who belong to the same group, organization, country, etc.

• interregnum

  An interregnum is a period of time when there is temporarily no one in charge of a country or large organization.

• disinterested

  Someone does something in a disinterested way when they have no personal involvement or attachment to the action.

• interim

  An interim position at a school or business is only temporary until the position can be filled by someone who is more qualified.

• interloper

  An interloper is someone who barges into a place where they are not welcome and interferes with what is going on, often for personal gain.

• intermittent

  Something that happens on an intermittent basis happens in irregular intervals, stopping and starting at unpredictable times.

• interpose

  When you interpose, you interrupt or interfere in some fashion.

• intersperse

  When you intersperse things, you distribute or scatter them among other things, sometimes at different intervals.

• interstitial

  The adjective interstitial pertains to a narrow opening or a crack between two things.

• intertwine

  When you intertwine two things, you twist them together and thereby interconnect them.

• interject

  To interject is to insert a comment during a conversation that interrupts its flow.

• intervene

  When you intervene in a difficult situation, you get involved in it in order to help solve a problem.

• entertain

  When you entertain someone, you hold their attention by pleasing or amusing them in some way.

• interrupt

  When you interrupt someone, you unexpectedly cause that person to stop what they are doing.

• internal

  That which is internal is located inside of something else.

• intercept

  When you intercept something, you stop or prevent it from getting to where it was going.