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

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Etymology

Origin of internship

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

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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

Angie Nixon’s political career started with an internship for a member of city council.

From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2026

Still, his highs and lows underscore how precarious these ultracompetitive internship programs can be.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

She had to take on a three-month unpaid internship in a classroom and several thousand dollars in fees for her certification.

From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2026

Living at home while doing an internship in Louisville also allowed him to save money that he would otherwise have spent on rent.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

“Ouch. And then your internship starts—” Dill carefully plucked a ladybug from his arm and held it in his palm so that it could fly away.

From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner

The race is already on for next summer’s $50K internships.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

The compensation that elite financial firms are dangling for 10-week summer internships.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

I want to dramatically expand paid internships, apprenticeships and partnerships with employers and organized labor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Phan said it blocks students from paid internships, research and teaching assistant jobs and student government posts that include stipends — positions she called “vital to advancing their future careers.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

One of my internships was at The Phoenix, a weekly newspaper run out of a dingy storefront on Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn, near the old Ex-Lax factory.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

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