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.
interglacial, interglacials
1. A comparatively short period of warmth during an overall period of glaciation.
2. A period when a warmer climate separated two periods of glaciation and displayed a characteristic sequence of changes in vegetation.
The term is used especially for several such periods that occurred during the Pleistocene epoch, lasting from 1.8 million to 10,000 years ago.
3. A period of warm climate during the Pleistocene (and earlier glacial epochs) during which continental glaciers retreated to a minimum extent.
Interglacials have been of approximately 10,000 years duration, spaced at approximately 100,000-year intervals over the last 1,000,000 years. The last 10,000 years, or postglacial period, is generally considered to be interglacial.
intergluteal
Between the buttocks (the prominence formed by the gluteal muscles on either side).
interglutium
interim
interior
interiorly
interjacent
interjection
interjectional
interjectionally
interkinesis
interlace
interlapse
The lapse, flow, or interval of time between two events.
interlard
interlay
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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