inter

Forms

inter (+ accusative)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *n̥ter (“between”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér (“between”), an adverb of place derived from *h₁en (“in”) (see in).^[2][1][3] The related adjective in ⟨*-tero-⟩ survives in intrā, intrō and interior, and the superlative intimus is inherited too.^[2]

Cognate with Oscan anter (“between”) and Umbrian anter-, Old Irish eter (“between”), Sanskrit अन्तर् (antár, “between, within”) and Albanian ndër (“between, among”).^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Livius Andronicus on.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Inter means “between, among, amid”, of place and of a group (inter paucōs “as few others”), with verbs of dividing “among”, and of time “during, in the course of”.^[3][5] With sē it expresses a mutual relation, “with one another”.^[5] As an adverb it is rare and poetic, “in between”.^[5]

Niermeyer records the medieval sense “including, in all”.^[6] As the prefix inter- it adds the senses of the preposition.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 280–200 BC – First found in Livius Andronicus.^[2][4]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius: ubi videt avēnam lolium crēscere inter trīticum, “weeds growing among the wheat”.^[3][4]
• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius: inter tonitra et turbinēs, amid thunder and whirlwinds.^[3][4]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with accusative) between, among, amid.^[3][5]
2. In the number of, among.^[3]
3. Among, between (with verbs of dividing).^[3]
4. During, in the course of (a time).^[3][1]
5. inter sē, with or to each other, mutually.^[5]
6. (Medieval Latin) Including, in all.^[6]

Adverb

1. (poetic) In between.^[3][5]

Word family

• inter-
• interior
• intimus
• intrā
• intrō
• interim
• intereā

Related words

• internus
• in
• intestīnus
• English enter

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill