intervention

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪntəˈvɛnʃən/ (UK); /ɪntɚˈvɛnʃən/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English intervencioun, borrowed from Late Latin interventio (“an interposing; a giving security”),^[2][3][4] a noun of action from intervenīre (“to come between, interrupt”) (see intervene), from inter (“between”) and venīre (“to come”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Intercession, intercessory prayer: the early 15th century in Etymonline;^[2] the OED has the action of stepping in or interfering from about 1425.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Coming between in place, time or order is from 1645.^[5] In law, intervention is the entry of a third party into a suit (1860).^[5] From the mid-19th century it was often used of one state interfering in the affairs of another (see interventionism).^[2][6] By 1983 it also meant an occasion when friends or family confront someone with an addiction in order to make them change.^[2][6] In medicine an intervention is any treatment or procedure.^[7]

Timeline

• early 15th century – intercession.^[2]
• 1645 – coming between.^[5]
• mid-19th century – interference between states.^[2]
• 1860 – in law.^[5]
• 1983 – confronting an addict.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of intervening, especially to improve a situation or prevent harm.
2. Interference by one state in the affairs of another.
3. A medical treatment or procedure.
4. A meeting at which a person with an addiction is confronted by friends or family.

Word family

• interventional
• nonintervention
• reintervention
• prointervention
• interventionism

Related words

• intervene
• venue
• convene
• prevent

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ 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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin