intern

1 of 4

noun

in·​tern ˈin-ˌtərn How to pronounce intern (audio)
variants or less commonly interne
: an advanced student or graduate usually in a professional field (such as medicine or teaching) gaining supervised practical experience (as in a hospital or classroom)
internship noun

intern

2 of 4

verb (1)

in·​tern ˈin-ˌtərn How to pronounce intern (audio)
interned; interning; interns

intransitive verb

: to work as an intern

intern

3 of 4

verb (2)

interned; interning; interns

transitive verb

: to confine or impound especially during a war
intern enemy aliens
internee noun

intern

4 of 4

adjective

variants or interne
archaic

Examples of intern in a Sentence

Noun After medical school, he worked as an intern at the university hospital.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Diversity in hiring — actors, directors, makeup artists, publicists, interns — is considered. Brooks Barnes, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2024 Katie Wiseman is a trending news intern at IndyStar. Katie Wiseman, The Indianapolis Star, 8 Mar. 2024 Nearly 9,000 out of the country’s 13,000 medical interns and residents have been refusing to work for about two weeks to protest a government plan to increase South Korea’s medical school admission quota by about two thirds. Jiwon Song and Hyung-Jin Kim, Quartz, 4 Mar. 2024 Robbins asks the intern class, seemingly alluding to their chance to join her for a groundbreaking fetal surgery. Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 1 Mar. 2024 Many interns, summer associates, and practicing attorneys have gone from one of these firms to Management Council or vice versa. Chris Deubert, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 Former chief of staff for state Sen. Art Torres, intern for Esteban Torres. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024 Last summer, an intern was nearly crushed when a bin made of two-ton concrete blocks collapsed. Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 27 Feb. 2024 Worley worked on the mosaic as an intern in 1969 and restored the mosaic after it was taken down from the Home Savings and Loan in Santa Monica. Heather McRea, Orange County Register, 25 Feb. 2024
Verb
The shooter had interned at the bank for several summers before becoming a full-time employee in 2021, police said. Faris Tanyos, CBS News, 11 Apr. 2023 The assailant had interned at the bank for three summers and been employed there full-time for close to two years, his LinkedIn profile showed. Mark Morales, CNN, 11 Apr. 2023 Girls are rounded up and interned as governments start banning the use of the gift. Joshua Alston, Variety, 30 Mar. 2023 One of them even interned there, Sifat bin Quadery. IEEE Spectrum, 29 Mar. 2023 Around 2011, Rodwell began interning for the Free Press Association, a journalism organization that leased office space from Dwango and used Niconico to stream press conferences. WIRED, 29 Mar. 2023 She's previously interned at the Lexington Herald-Leader, and worked for her undergrad student newspaper in several roles including editor-in-chief. Todd J. Gillman, Dallas News, 21 Mar. 2023 Father Solcia will be interned at the Barnabite Cemetary in Lewiston, N.Y., on Saturday. Emily Alvarenga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2023 The change came soon after Paul successfully negotiated a deal for high school prospect Darius Bazley to intern for New Balance rather than play college basketball for Syracuse University. Gabrielle Chung, Peoplemag, 6 Feb. 2023
Adjective
After the pandemic hit, remote work was discussed frequently in Glassdoor reviews by all types of workers, interns included, but intern sentiment about remote work was much more negative than that among other employees. Cassie Werber, Quartz, 19 Apr. 2022 The Germans opened a nursery to intern Jewish children in a building adjacent to the seminary while holding their parents across the street at the Hollandsche Schouwburg theater, which the Germans had converted into a prison. Cnaan Liphshiz, sun-sentinel.com, 9 Dec. 2020 Gavin also previously served as an intern and interim executive assistant in the Executive Office of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. Gavin Smith, CNN, 2 Feb. 2023 Today, Disney non-intern workers earn at least $15 across the resort, according to the company. Katie Rice, orlandosentinel.com, 7 Oct. 2021 In an analysis of 17 companies, parity was claimed at the intern and executive levels, yet men earned between 2% and 7% more than women in the entry, mid-management and senior management levels that account for most jobs in those organizations. Kristi Lamar, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2021 There is a wonderful feeling of respect that starts with the CEO and trickles all the way down to the intern level. Nick Davidson, Outside Online, 1 Oct. 2014

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'intern.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

French interne, from interne, adjective

Adjective

Middle French interne, from Latin internus

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1879, in the meaning defined above

Verb (1)

circa 1928, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

1866, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

circa 1560, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of intern was circa 1560

Dictionary Entries Near intern

Cite this Entry

“Intern.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intern. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

intern

1 of 3 verb
: to confine especially during a war
interned enemy aliens

intern

2 of 3 noun
in·​tern
variants also interne
ˈin-ˌtərn
: an advanced student or graduate in a special field (as medicine or teaching) who is gaining supervised practical experience (as in a hospital or classroom)

intern

3 of 3 verb
in·​tern ˈin-ˌtərn How to pronounce intern (audio)
: to work as an intern

Medical Definition

intern

1 of 2 noun
in·​tern
variants also interne
: a physician gaining supervised practical experience in a hospital after graduating from medical school

called also houseman

intern

2 of 2 intransitive verb
in·​tern ˈin-ˌtərn How to pronounce intern (audio)
: to act as an intern

More from Merriam-Webster on intern

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!