internship

American  

[in-turn-ship] / ˈɪn tɜrnˌʃɪp /

noun

internships plural

1. the state or condition of being an intern.

2. the period during which a person serves as an intern.

3. any official or formal program to provide practical experience for beginners in an occupation or profession.

   an internship for management trainees.

4. a position as a participant in such a program.

   She has accepted an internship in a law firm.

5. any period of time during which a beginner acquires experience in an occupation, profession, or pursuit.

   She had a long internship before starting her own recording studio.

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internship British  

/ ˈɪntɜːnʃɪp /

noun

1. the position of being an intern or the period during which a person is an intern

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• internships
  plural

Etymology

Origin of internship

First recorded in 1900–05; intern ¹ + -ship

Explanation

An internship is a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than merely employment, and it can be paid or unpaid. If you want to go into publishing, you might have to take an internship before you are qualified for an actual job. To intern means "to pass inside something," and when you have an internship, it's like you've temporarily gotten permission to be inside a workplace. If you're just completing your medical training, then the next stage is to get a medical internship, in which you are supervised by more experienced doctors. Sometimes your internship is part of your "residency," your first hospital job.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

internship internships

The 22-year-old student at Northern Illinois University spent his internship in KPMG’s Chicago office working on client projects and side-quests that challenged him to use the firm’s AI tools.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

He carried out the research during an internship at the University of Tübingen in Germany with a scholarship from FAPESP.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026

He planned to complete a programme in Peru, billed as an internship in the Amazon rainforest.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

Veronika Khudenko, in Kyiv for the past month for an internship from London, has spent every single night there.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

This summer, I have an internship at a bakery in Beacon Hill.

From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks

For now, the brothers are continuing to stick together as they begin internships  in Milton Keynes.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Linked Learning steps in by partnering with schools and guiding students on how to earn college credit through dual community college enrollment, internships and industry certifications.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

More college students are forgoing summer internships in favor of joining Silicon Valley incubators and launching startups.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Coauthor Kaitlin McAllister participated through the Vienna Doctoral School in Physics, which provides internships for outstanding master's students from around the world.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 2, 2026

He wanted a full scholarship to Georgetown and summer internships with United States senators.

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer