inter

1 of 2

verb

in·​ter in-ˈtər 

interred; interring

transitive verb

: to deposit (a dead body) in the earth or in a tomb

inter-

2 of 2

prefix

1

: between : among : in the midst

intercrop

interpenetrate

interstellar

2

: reciprocal

interrelation

: reciprocally

intermarry

3

: located between

interstation

4

: carried on between

international

5

: occurring between

interborough

: intervening

interglacial

6

: shared by, involving, or derived from two or more

interfaith

7

: between the limits of : within

intertropical

8

: existing between

intercommunal

intercompany

Synonyms

Verb

• bury
• entomb
• hearse
• inhume
• lay
• put away
• tomb

Examples of inter in a Sentence

Verb

a burial site where people have been interred for over a thousand years

the soldier was interred with great honors at Arlington National Cemetery

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

But although tens of thousands of visitors were coming for respite, too few were buying: only a hundred and seventy-five people were interred there by 1843. —Paige Williams, New Yorker, 2 June 2025

Secretaries of State, including Colin Powell, John Dulles, Alexander Haig and George Marshall are interred at Arlington. —Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 27 May 2025

Hagerty will then be interred at 2 p.m. Thursday beside Nancy at Queen of Angels Catholic Cemetery in Winter Park. —Silas Morgan, The Orlando Sentinel, 24 May 2025

The pope will then be interred in a niche within the St. Mary Major Basilica, near his favorite Madonna icon. —Colleen Barry, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English enteren, from Anglo-French enterrer, from Vulgar Latin *interrare, from in- + Latin terra earth — more at terrace entry 1

Prefix

borrowed from Latin, prefixal use of inter "among, between," going back to Indo-European *h₁en-ter- (whence also Old Irish eter, iter "between," Old Welsh ithr, Breton etre, entre, all from Celtic *enter; Sanskrit antár "within," Avestan aṇtarə); from a nominal derivative *h₁enter-o- "part located inside," Old Norse iðr, innr, indr "entrails," iðrar (feminine plural) "bowels," Greek éntera (neuter plural) "intestines," Armenian ənderkʼ (plural), Sanskrit ántara- "located inside," Avestan antara-

Note: Indo-European *h₁en-ter- is formed from the locational particle *h₁en- "in" (see in entry 1) and the suffix of opposition and contrast -ter-. A zero-grade derivative *h₁n̥-tér- is reflected in Old Saxon undar "between," Old High German untar, though in Germanic this etymon appears to have merged completely with outcomes of *(H)n̥-dher- "below, under" (see under entry 1).

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing inter

• inter-African
• inter-agency
• inter alia
• inter alios
• inter-American
• inter-annual
• inter-association
• inter-availability
• inter-available
• inter-bank
• inter-basin
• inter-borough
• inter-branch
• inter-campus
• inter-caste
• inter-cell
• inter-channel
• inter-church
• inter-city
• inter-clan
• inter-class
• inter-club
• inter-cluster
• inter-coastal
• inter-colonial
• inter-communal
• inter-community
• inter-company
• inter-corporate
• inter-country
• inter-county
• inter-couple
• inter-cultural
• inter-culturally
• inter-dealer
• inter-denominational
• inter-departmentally
• inter-district
• inter-divisional
• inter-dominion
• inter-electrode
• inter-electronic
• inter-epidemic
• inter-ethnic
• inter-faculty
• inter-familial
• inter-family
• inter-fiber
• inter-flow
• inter-fraternity
• inter-gang
• inter-generation
• inter-generational
• inter-group
• inter-hospital
• inter-individual
• inter-industry
• inter-institutional
• inter-island
• inter-library
• inter-male
• inter-membrane
• inter-observer
• inter-ocean
• inter-oceanic
• inter-office
• inter-parish
• inter-party
• inter-professional
• inter-provincial
• inter-regional
• inter-religious
• inter-row
• inter-school
• inter se
• inter-segment
• inter-segmental
• inter-societal
• inter-society
• inter-station
• inter-strain
• inter-strand
• inter-system
• inter-terminal
• inter-territorial
• inter-trial
• inter-tribal
• inter-troop
• inter-union
• inter-unit
• inter-university
• inter-valley
• inter-village
• inter vivos
• inter vivos trust
• inter-war
• inter-zonal
• inter-zone
• primus inter pares

Rhymes for inter

• chauffeur
• cockspur
• concur
• confer
• defer
• demur
• deter
• hotspur
• incur
• infer
• jagir
• larkspur

Kids Definition

inter

1 of 2 verb

in·​ter in-ˈtər 

interred; interring

: bury sense 1

inter-

2 of 2 prefix

1

: between : among : in the midst

interlock

interstellar

2

: reciprocal

interrelate

: reciprocally

interact

3

: located or occurring between

interlining

4

: carried on between

international

5

: shared by or involving two or more

interfaith

Etymology

Verb

from the Latin phrase in terra "in the earth"

Prefix

derived from Latin inter "between, among"