interim English · revision 10580

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1548|origins=la interim}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈɪn.tər.ɪm/, US /ˈɪn.t̬ɚ.ɪm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|interim|t=in the meantime]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from inter, between, and -im, an old adverbial ending from the stem of the pronoun is, “this, that”, so that it originally meant “in the midst of that”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Interim, a provisional arrangement of 1548 by the Emperor Charles V to settle religious differences between the German Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church until a council could decide them.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Any temporary arrangement is from 1558,^(OED 1989) and the meantime, the time between, from 1563–87 in the OED, the 1560s in Etymonline,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) first in an edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs.^(Barnhart 1988) The adverb, meanwhile, is from 1580.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) The adjective, temporary or provisional (''interim measures''), is from 1604 in Merriam-Webster,^(MWU 2024) and an interim dividend from 1930.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1548 – the Interim (church history).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1558 – a temporary arrangement.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1563–87 – the meantime.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1580 – meanwhile (adverb).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1604 – temporary (adjective).^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''the interim'': the time between two events; the [[meantime]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[temporary|alt=Temporary]] or provisional; serving for the time being: ''an interim report''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(rare)'' Meanwhile.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ad interim]]

+ * [[inter-]]

+ * [[meantime]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}