Etymologically
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interdisciplinary

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 21:00. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌɪntəˈdɪsɪplɪn(ə)ri/, /ˌɪntəˈdɪsəplɪn(ə)ri/[1]
  • US: /ˌɪnt̬ɚˈdɪsəplɪneri/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English inter- + disciplinary.[2][3][4][5] The Shorter Oxford analyses it as inter- with discipline and -ary.[6] Disciplinary is from Medieval Latin disciplinarius,[3][2] from Latin disciplīna (“instruction, teaching, knowledge”),[3][2] from discipulus (“pupil, student”), the source of disciple.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to two or more branches of learning: 1931, in the Library Quarterly,[2][7] the same journal in which the OED first finds disciplinary used of a branch of learning.[2] Merriam-Webster dates interdisciplinary to 1926,[4] Etymonline to 1937,[3] and Dictionary.com to 1935–40.[5]

Semantic evolution

The word rests on the sense of discipline "branch of learning", which is much older than the adjective: disciplinary itself had meant "relating to learning or training" since about 1487 and "relating to rules of conduct" since then too, but was used of academic fields only from 1931.[2] The new adjective named research or teaching that draws on, or contributes to, more than one such field.[2][4] Later in the 20th century it produced the noun interdisciplinarity and the noun and adjective interdiscipline.[6]

Timeline

  • 1926 – first known use, according to Merriam-Webster.[4]
  • 1931 – of two or more disciplines, in the Library Quarterly.[2]
  • 1937 – first date given by Etymonline.[3]
  • late 20th century – interdisciplinarity.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Involving or combining two or more academic disciplines or fields of study: an interdisciplinary research centre.[8][4][9][2]
  2. Drawing on, or contributing to, more than one branch of knowledge.[4][2]

Word family

  • interdisciplinarity

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins