intervene
/ˌɪntɚˈvin/verb
intervene is spelled I-N-T-E-R-V-E-N-E. The wrong spelling people search most is intevene: about 10 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 120 of all searches for the word. Intervene is a verb meaning “To become involved in a situation, so as to alter or prevent an action”.
How many letters and syllables are in intervene?
| Letters | 9: I-N-T-E-R-V-E-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.5 times per million words; the 12,045th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, intevene, about 10 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell intervene?
Intervene is spelled I-N-T-E-R-V-E-N-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 120 of the searches for intervene in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is intervene?
Intervene appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th 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 intervene?
- UK /ˌɪntəˈviːn/
- US /ˌɪntɚˈvin/
- Australia /ˌɪntəˈviːn/
Intervene has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-intervene.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with intervene?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as intervene from its last stressed vowel (/in/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of intervene
- intervenes present, singular, he/she/it
- intervening participle, present
- intervened participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does intervene mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To become involved in a situation, so as to alter or prevent an action.
The police had to be called to intervene in the fight.
- 2
To occur, fall, or come between, points of time, or events.
An instant intervened between the flash and the report.
- 3
To occur or act as an obstacle or delay.
Nothing intervened to prevent the undertaking.
- 4
To say (something) in the middle of a conversation or discussion between other people, or to respond to a situation involving other people.
- 5
To come between, or to be between, persons or things.
The Mediterranean intervenes between Europe and Africa.
- 6
In a suit to which one has not been made a party, to put forward a defense of one's interest in the subject matter.
an application for leave (i.e. permission) to intervene
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Intervene in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | eingreifen, einschreiten, dazwischengehen, dazwischenfahren, intervenieren , dazwischenkommen |
| Spanish | intervenir, involucrarse, interceder, meterse |
| French | intervenir |
| Portuguese | intervir, interceder |
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 intervene come from?
Back-formation from intervention, and/or from Latin interveniō (“come between”, verb).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).