intern

¹ American  

[in-turn] / ˈɪn tɜrn /

Sometimes interne

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.

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verb (used without object)

interned, interning

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

intern ² American  

[in-turn, in-turn] / ɪnˈtɜrn, ˈɪn tɜrn /

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.

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noun

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

intern ³ American  

[in-turn] / ɪnˈtɜrn /

adjective

Archaic.

1. internal.

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intern British  

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

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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

Etymology

Origin of intern¹

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 intern²

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

Origin of intern³

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

Explanation

Somewhere between being a student and a professional is the life of an intern, an advanced student, especially in medicine, who gets on-the-job experience. To intern or be an intern is to leave the classroom behind and start doing part of your profession — usually, the job of being a doctor. Sometimes an intern is paid, but not always, and the pay is never great. The experience is considered payment in itself. There have been many medical TV shows that feature interns, probably because the hours are long, the job is difficult, and there are many opportunities for drama in this boot camp for doctors. Medical interns may appreciate another meaning, which means to take away someone's freedom, as in "Why did you intern the prisoners?"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

intern interned interning

It’s as though a CEO suddenly, and willingly, decided to take the wages of a mailroom intern.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

William Salt - an intern analyst - was discovered observing a Middlesbrough training session, and the saga known as Spygate began.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

Puente intern Mariana Chavez and editor Ricardo Sandoval contributed to this report.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026

Brian Roberts joined Comcast as a high school intern, setting up supermarket promotions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

He was only an intern; he was just learning this stuff.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Mitchell’s familiarity with lobbying might also come from experience, with Mitchell having interned at a lobbying firm, according to both Radio Iowa and his biography at Future Caucus, a group that supports young politicians.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

She interned at Condé Nast through the inaugural Condé Future program, where she developed multimedia journalism projects for several of the company’s publications.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

As a teenager, he interned for Comcast, spending high school and college summers climbing telephone poles and selling cable subscriptions door to door.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

He interned at KSWO-TV in Lawton, Okla., where he worked as an on-air weekend meteorologist.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026

When I returned to the States, I interned in Washington, D.C., focusing on homeland security issues.

From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore

Brennan Drolet, a rising college senior studying finance, is spending this summer interning at a bank in Massachusetts.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

Concannon is interning this semester at the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office and is set to graduate this spring.

From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2026

Aimee began her career interning at Bloomberg News in Toronto and CNN in Dubai.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026

A decade later, in 1998, Whitten and Sykes — who at the time was interning for him — were in his home workroom when the phone rang.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025

The doctor was a Harvard man, interning at the neighborhood hospital.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

Related Words

• doctor
• resident
• student
• trainee