Etymologically
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interview

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈɪn.tə.vjuː/, US /ˈɪn.t̬ɚ.vjuː/[1]

Etymology

It is an alteration, influenced by inter-, of earlier enterview,[2][3] borrowed from Middle French entrevue,[4][3] from s'entrevoir (“to see each other, have a glimpse of”),[4][3][5] from entre- (“between”), from Latin inter-, and voir (“to see”),[4][6] from Latin vidēre (“to see”),[4][6] from Proto-Indo-European *weid- (“to see”).[4] It is literally a viewing between people.[6] Modern French interview is from English.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A meeting of persons face to face, especially for a formal conference: 1514.[7][3][2] The verb, “to have a personal meeting”, is from the 1540s.[4][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries the word also meant a mutual view, an inspection, or a glimpse, all now obsolete.[7] The journalistic sense, a conversation with someone to obtain statements for publication, is American English from 1869, as is the verb “to interview”.[4][7][3] An oral assessment of a candidate for a job or a place in a college is from 1917,[7] and formal questioning of a suspect by the police from 1930.[7]

Timeline

  • 1514 – a face-to-face meeting.[7][3]
  • 1540s – verb, to meet in person.[4]
  • 1869 – a press interview; verb, to interview.[4][7]
  • 1917 – a job interview.[7]
  • 1930 – police questioning.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A formal meeting to assess a candidate for a job, place or the like.
  2. A conversation in which a journalist or researcher asks someone questions; a published account of it.
  3. A formal questioning by the police.

Verb

  1. To question someone in an interview.
  2. To be interviewed for a job.

Word family

  • interviewable
  • interviewee
  • interviewer
  • preinterview
  • self-interview
  • uninterviewed
  • reinterview

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press