intercontinental

Etymology

It is formed from English inter- (“between”) + continental.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Etymonline records it as an American English word.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Existing or carried on between different continents: 1825 in Etymonline.^[2] The OED's first record is in H. Clarke's New Dictionary of the English Language (1855),^[3] and Merriam-Webster also dates the word about 1855.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word at first described things situated between continents or connecting them, or people of different continents.^[3][2] From 1956 it was used of missiles and aircraft able to travel from one continent to another,^[3][2] above all in intercontinental ballistic missile, abbreviated ICBM.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1825 – existing or carried on between continents.^[2] The OED dates it 1855.^[3]
• 1956 – able to travel from one continent to another, of missiles.^[3][2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Existing, travelling or carried on between continents: an intercontinental flight.^[5][7][3]
2. Able to travel from one continent to another, especially of a missile or bomber.^[5][3]

Word family

• ICBM
• intercontinental ballistic missile

Related words

• continental
• continent
• transcontinental

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins