inter

¹

[in-tur]

verb (used with object)

interred, interring 

1. to place (a dead body) in a grave or tomb; bury.

2. to place (a cremation urn) in an aboveground niche or in a grave or tomb.

   Her ashes were interred at the crematorium.

3. to put into the earth.

4. to forget or remove from consideration; abandon.

   Your dreams may be interred by social expectations and the demands of maturity.

inter.

²

abbreviation

1. intermediate.

2. interrogation.

3. interrogative.

inter-

³

1. a prefix occurring in loanwords from Latin, where it meant “between,” “among,” “in the midst of,” “mutually,” “reciprocally,” “together,” “during” (intercept; interest ); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (intercom; interdepartmental ).

inter

¹

/ ɪnˈtɜː /

verb

1. (tr) to place (a body) in the earth; bury, esp with funeral rites

inter-

²

prefix

1. between or among

   international

2. together, mutually, or reciprocally

   interdependent

   interchange

inter.

³

abbreviation

1. intermediate

inter–

1. A prefix meaning “between” or “among,” as in interplanetary, located between planets.

Other Word Forms

• reinter verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of inter¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English enteren, from Middle French enterrer, probably from unattested Vulgar Latin interrāre, derivative of terra “earth”; in- ²

Origin of inter²

Middle English < Latin (in some words replacing Middle English entre- < Middle French < Latin inter- ), combining form of inter (preposition and adv.); interior

Word History and Origins

Origin of inter¹

C14: from Old French enterrer, from Latin _in- ² + terra earth

Origin of inter²

from Latin

Example Sentences

The government interred Japanese, German, and other diplomats from enemy countries at the Greenbrier, of all places—both to keep the diplomats from leaving the country and to make sure that they were treated well.

Read more on Literature

His body is interred at the Washington headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, which also contains a small museum in his honour.

Read more on BBC

But then Scott Michaels, the founder of Dearly Departed Tours, discovered that her cremated remains were interred in a rose garden under her married name, Elsa Lanchester Laughton.

Read more on BBC

From Scotland to China, and from Iceland to West Africa, they have been interred under heavy stones, staked or nailed into graves.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It notes that mass burials and mass graves were "not a customary way of interring the dead in the Roman Empire", and were mostly used in extreme situations and mass casualty events.

Read more on BBC