intern

¹

[in-turn, in-turn]

verb (used with object)

1. to restrict to or confine within prescribed limits, as prisoners of war, enemy aliens, or combat troops who take refuge in a neutral country.

2. to impound or hold within a country until the termination of a war, as a ship of a belligerent that has put into a neutral port and remained beyond a limited period.

noun

1. a person who is or has been interned; internee.

intern

²

Sometimes in·terne

[in-turn]

noun

1. a resident member of the medical staff of a hospital, usually a recent medical school graduate serving under supervision.

2. Education.,  student teacher.

3. a person who works as an apprentice or trainee in an occupation or profession to gain practical experience, and sometimes also to satisfy legal or other requirements for being licensed or accepted professionally.

verb (used without object)

interned, interning 

1. to be or perform the duties of an intern.

intern

³

[in-turn]

adjective

Archaic.

1. internal.

intern

verb

1. (tr) to detain or confine (foreign or enemy citizens, ships, etc), esp during wartime

2. (intr) to serve or train as an intern

noun

1. another word for internee

2. Also: interne. British equivalent: house officer. med a graduate in the first year of practical training after medical school, resident in a hospital and under supervision by senior doctors

3. a student teacher

4. a student or recent graduate receiving practical training in a working environment

adjective

1. an archaic word for internal

Word History and Origins

Origin of intern¹

First recorded in 1865–70; from French interner “to send inland; confine,” verbal derivative of interne intern ³

Origin of intern²

First recorded in 1825–30 intern ¹ for def. 1, and in 1920–25 intern ¹ for defs. 2, 3; from French interne “assistant doctor,” from Latin internus “inward”; intern ³

Origin of intern³

First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin internus “inward,” equivalent to inter- inter- + -nus adjective suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of intern¹

C19: from Latin internus internal

Example Sentences

Senior leaders expect generative AI to have its biggest impact on interns and entry-level workers, but substantially more senior leaders expect AI to create more hiring at these levels.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It was sometime between 2019 and 2020 that he interned at a few different recording studios, songwriting in his spare time with the intention of writing and producing music for others.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Typically, theater interns swept stages, he says, “but I told them I wanted to work with a network, so I was assigned to work with Lorne Michaels on ‘Saturday Night Live.’”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In college, I was a paid summer intern for a graduate student, analyzing signals bounced off an aurora borealis to study plasma.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Rudolf himself died in 1945 after having spent most of the war - like many other German refugees - interned by the British on the Isle of Man.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• doctor 
• resident 
• student 
• trainee