intervene
/ˌɪntə(ɹ)ˈviːn/
"intervene" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“intervene” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,080 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #12,080
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To become involved in a situation, so as to alter or prevent an action.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | intervene |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌɪntə(ɹ)ˈviːn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #12,080 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “intervene” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for intervene is 9 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌɪntə(ɹ)ˈviːn/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,080 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for intervene, with forms such as "inetrvene", "inntervene", and "interevne". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "interfere", "interment", "intercede", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Back-formation from intervention, and/or from Latin interveniō (“come between”, verb). The correct English form is intervene, spelled I-N-T-E-R-V-E-N-E.
Definition
- 1To become involved in a situation, so as to alter or prevent an action.
- 2To occur, fall, or come between, points of time, or events.
- 3To occur or act as an obstacle or delay.
- 4To say (something) in the middle of a conversation or discussion between other people, or to respond to a situation involving other people.
- 5To come between, or to be between, persons or things.
- 6In a suit to which one has not been made a party, to put forward a defense of one's interest in the subject matter.
Etymology
Back-formation from intervention, and/or from Latin interveniō (“come between”, verb).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: inetrvene,inntervene,interevne,interrvene,interveen,intervenne,intervnee,intervvene,intevrene,intrevene,inttervene,itnervene,nitervene
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of intervene - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “intervene”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-T-E-R-V-E-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌɪntə(ɹ)ˈviːn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “interfere” - see the side-by-side comparison. intervene vs interfere
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.