inter-, intero-

(Latin: between; among, mutually, together; on the inside, internal)

Although abstracted from the many compounds in which it entered English, the form inter- was not generally considered a living prefix in English until the 1400s.

During the later period of Middle English many words borrowed in the Old and Middle French forms entre-, enter- began to be consciously respelled with Latin inter-; although vestiges of the older French borrowings are found in entertain and enterprise.

The living prefix inter- is now freely added to almost any element in English to create such formations with the meaning of "between" and "among". The words formed by intra- are closely related to this inter- prefix; in fact, they both apparently came from the same Latin source.

—Based on information from Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology


malinterdigitation
Abnormal intercuspal relation of the upper and lower teeth [Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary].
posterointernal
Situated within and toward the posterior surface.
Primus inter pares.
First among equals.

Motto of Columbus College, Columbus, Georgia, USA.

Strepit anser inter olores.
Between swans, the goose cackles.

Motto of King Otto IV of Brunswick, Germany (1198-1215).

uninterrupted
1. Having undisturbed continuity: "A convalescent needs uninterrupted sleep."
2: Continuing in time or space without interruption, continuous: "An uninterrupted rearrangement of electrons in the solar atoms results in the emission of light."
vasa auris internae
A collective term for the vessels of the inner ear.

Related "together" units: com-; greg-; struct-.

Cross references of word families related directly, or indirectly, to: "internal organs, entrails, inside": ent-; enter-; fistul-; incret-; intra-; splanchn-; viscer-.


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