Etymologically
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intervention

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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

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