inter
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
5 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "inter", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "inter" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "inter" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
inter- is aEnglishprefix. It means: A position which is in between two (or more) of the kind indicated by the root. Pronounced /ɪntə(r)/.
Compare similar words
See how inter- compares against similar English words.
Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | inter- |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prefix |
| IPA | /ɪntə(r)/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for inter- is 6 letters long, classified as aprefix, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪntə(r)/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader.Wiktionary records 33 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for inter- in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree ▲ Proto-Indo-European *h₁en- Proto-Indo-European *h₁en- Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Italic *ənter Latin inter Latin inter-bor. English inter- Borrowed from Latin inter- (“between, amid”), a form of preposition… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is inter-, spelled I-N-T-E-R--, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A position which is in between two (or more) of the kind indicated by the root.
- 2A position which is in between two (or more) of the kind indicated by the root.
- 3A position which is in between two (or more) of the kind indicated by the root.
- 4A position which is in between two (or more) of the kind indicated by the root.
- 5A position which is in between two (or more) of the kind indicated by the root.
- 6A position which is in between two (or more) of the kind indicated by the root.
- 7A position which is in between two (or more) of the kind indicated by the root.
- 8Mutually: the root verb or property has a symmetric and bidirectional relationship between the relevant parties.
- 9Combining together: the root verb is done together, generally uniting or merging multiple objects.
- 10Hybrid: combining two or more of the root together to produce a hybrid.
- 11Internally: the root verb is done in between or among relevant entities; also forming nouns and adjectives derived from the verb form.
- 12Internally: the root verb is done in between or among relevant entities; also forming nouns and adjectives derived from the verb form.
- 13Internally: the root verb is done in between or among relevant entities; also forming nouns and adjectives derived from the verb form.
- 14Internally: the root verb is done in between or among relevant entities; also forming nouns and adjectives derived from the verb form.
- 15Internally: the root verb is done in between or among relevant entities; also forming nouns and adjectives derived from the verb form.
- 16Alternating: a sequence of alternating kinds of the root.
- 17Link: to connect multiple kinds of the root.
- 18Link: to connect multiple kinds of the root.
- 19Link: to connect multiple kinds of the root.
- 20Link: to connect multiple kinds of the root.
- 21Involving multiple of the root.
- 22Involving multiple of the root.
- 23Involving multiple of the root.
- 24Involving multiple of the root.
- 25Intermediate between multiple of the type indicated by the root.
- 26Intermediate between multiple of the type indicated by the root.
- 27Intermediate between multiple of the type indicated by the root.
- 28Intermediate between multiple of the type indicated by the root.
- 29Intermediate between multiple of the type indicated by the root.
- 30Intermediate between multiple of the type indicated by the root.
- 31Intermediate between multiple of the type indicated by the root.
- 32Internet: relating to the internet or computer networking.
- 33Intersex: relating to intersex people.
Etymology
Etymology tree ▲ Proto-Indo-European *h₁en- Proto-Indo-European *h₁en- Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Italic *ənter Latin inter Latin inter-bor. English inter- Borrowed from Latin inter- (“between, amid”), a form of prepositional inter (“between”).
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "inter-"?
What does "inter-" mean?
How do you pronounce "inter-"?
What is the origin of the word "inter-"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter I in our English index: