intermingle
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
- interminglement noun
- unintermingled adjective
Etymology
Origin of intermingle
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; inter-, mingle
Explanation
Things that intermingle get mixed up with each other. Tall grasses and daisies might intermingle in your parents' backyard, but your parents may choose not to intermingle with their neighbors. When kids from diverse backgrounds intermingle in school, they learn more about people who are different from themselves, and when several different flavors intermingle successfully in a recipe, the taste is complex and delicious. Intermingle intermingles the prefix inter-, "among or between" and mingle, from the Middle English myngen, "to mix," from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to knead together."
Vocabulary lists containing intermingle
Inside Out & Back Again
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Novel Study: Inside Out & Back Again, Unpack and Repack–1976: The Year of the Dragon
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In so doing, we may one day generate forests of trees whose ancestry does not intermingle with that of the species generated by the historic evolutionary process.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025
The communities on either side are often from the same ethnic groups and intermingle, and herds of cattle migrate across the vast savannah.
From Barron's • Oct. 20, 2025
In California, where 30% of the state’s population lives in high-risk fire zones where buildings intermingle with wilderness, destructive wildfires are inevitable.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2025
Tears and jubilation intermingle, reflecting both relief that the death toll may soon stop rising and fear of the uncertain future which awaits 1.2 million people who have lost their homes, schools, universities and hospitals.
From BBC • Jan. 16, 2025
I look back and see the way our footsteps intermingle to form a single path.
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
