Etymologically
Log in

interventus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 19:05. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɪn.tɛrˈwɛn.tʊs], [ɪn.tɛrˈwɛn.tuːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [in.terˈvɛn.tus], [in.terˈvɛn.tus][1]

Forms

interventus m (genitive interventūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from interveniō “to come between, intervene” with the action-noun suffix -tus.[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨veniō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *gʷm̥-yé- (“to come”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of an event affecting an affair.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a coming on the scene, arrival, as in Cicero; active intervention in a situation, as in Cicero; the occurrence of an event that affects a course of affairs, as in Plautus; and a coming in between, as in Seneca.[2][5] Niermeyer notes a classical legal sense, a bailment.[6]

In Medieval Latin it was intervention, intercession, help, and agency, means.[6] British Medieval Latin used it mostly in the ablative, interventū “through the mediation of”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of arrival and intervention.[2][4]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of coming between.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Arrival, appearance.[2]
  2. Intervention, interference; mediation.[2][7]
  3. An occurrence that intervenes.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Intercession, help.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press