intercession

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English intercession,^[2] borrowed from Old French intercession^[3][4] and directly borrowed from Latin intercessiō (“a going between, intervention, mediation”).^[2][5][6][7] The OED and Etymonline name only Latin,^[5][6] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged has Middle French or Latin.^[8] The Latin noun is formed from intercessus, the past participle of intercēdō (“to go between, intervene”),^[3][8] from inter (“between”) and cēdō (“to go”).^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Interceding, pleading on another's behalf: a quotation from before 1430 says that a father's wrath is often appeased by the intercession of his sons.^[2] Other dictionaries agree on the 15th century or late Middle English,^{[9][8][4][10]} but Etymonline dates the word to about 1500,^[6] and the OED's first quotations are from before 1513, in Dunbar.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In ancient Latin intercessiō meant a coming between, and in particular the act of becoming surety or a magistrate's veto.^[8][5] The sense of pleading on someone's behalf is not found in ancient Latin, as the OED notes; it occurs in French from the 15th century,^[5] and Etymonline says that it developed in Christianity, with the Medieval Latin verb meaning to interpose for someone.^[6] English took this sense of pleading first, often in prayer: a text from before 1500 asks for mercy by the intercession and merits of Peter and Paul.^[2] The Tyndale Bible as revised by Joye has it in Romans 11:2 (1534),^[5] a verse where the pleading is against someone, which the OED calls rare.^[5][11] The classical senses came later: the Roman veto from 1574,^[5][4] and the term of Roman law from 1875.^[5] A loose use for pleading on one's own behalf, recorded from before 1500,^[2] lasted until 1742.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined the word as mediation or agency between two parties, generally in someone's favour.^[11] Plural intercessions now also names the part of a church service given to such prayers.^[4] Nashe used intercession as a verb in 1593, a use the OED records only then.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1430 – the act of interceding, pleading for another.^[2] The OED's first quotation for this general sense is from 1534.^[5]
• before 1500 – intercessory prayer, by the saints.^[2] The OED's first quotation is from before 1513.^[5]
• before 1500 – a prayer or pleading on one's own behalf (obsolete by 1742).^[2][5]
• 1572 – a cessation, an intermission (obsolete).^[5][4]
• 1574 – in Roman history, the interposing of a veto.^[5]
• 1593 – as a verb, to make intercession.^[5]
• 1605 – a coming between, interposition (obsolete by 1638).^[5]
• 1875 – a term of Roman law.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of interceding; stepping in between opposed parties to bring about a reconciliation; mediation: The dispute ended only through the intercession of a neighbour.^[8][12][5]
2. Prayer or entreaty on behalf of another: The congregation offered intercession for the sick.^[8][12][5]
3. intercessions: the part of a church service given to such prayers.^[4]
4. (Roman history) The interposing of a veto by a tribune or other magistrate.^[12][5][4]
5. (Roman and civil law) Taking on liability for another's debt, by replacing the debtor or adding a new debtor or surety.^[8]
6. (obsolete, before 1513–1742) A petition or pleading on one's own behalf.^[5][2][4]
7. (obsolete, 1605–1638) A coming or being between; interposition.^[5][4]
8. (obsolete, 16th–17th centuries) Cessation, intermission.^[5][4]

Word family

• intercessional
• intercessory
• intercessor

Related words

• intercede
• cede
• inter-
• intersession

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins