interval
in·ter·val/ˈɪntɚvəl/noun
interval is spelled I-N-T-E-R-V-A-L: 8 letters and 3 syllables (in·ter·val). It appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, interval means “A distance in space” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of interval is intervals.
How many letters and syllables are in interval?
| Letters | 8: I-N-T-E-R-V-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: in·ter·val |
| In writing | 5.9 times per million words; the 10,028th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is interval?
Interval appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce interval?
- UK /ˈɪntəvəʊ/
- US /ˈɪntɚvəl/
Interval has 3 syllables, split in·ter·val in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-interval.ogg, En-au-interval.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of interval
- intervals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does interval mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A distance in space.
- 2
A period of time.
the interval between contractions during childbirth
- 3
The difference (a ratio or logarithmic measure) in pitch between two notes, often referring to those two pitches themselves (otherwise known as a dyad).
- 4
A connected section of the real line which may be empty or have a length of zero.
- 5
IndiaUKAn intermission.
- 6
half time, a scheduled intermission between the periods of play.
- 7
Either of the two breaks, at lunch and tea, between the three sessions of a day's play.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Interval in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | intervalle |
| German | Abstand, Zwischenraum , Intervall |
| Portuguese | intervalo |
| Spanish | intervalo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does interval come from?
From Middle English interval, intervalle, from Old French intervalle, entreval, from Latin intervallum (“space between, interval, distance, interval of time, pause, difference; literally, space between two palisades or walls”), from inter (“between”) + vallum (“palisade, wall”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).