intermodal

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *-tér

Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥tér

Proto-Italic *n̥ter

Latin inter

Latin inter-bor.

English inter-

English modal

English intermodal

From inter- + modal.

Adjective

intermodal (not comparable)

1. Relating to more than one mode of transport.

   an intermodal station which provides transfers between buses and trains

   • 2019 October, Steve Stubbs (photo caption), “New GBRf intermodal service”, in Modern Railways, page 20:

     Boxes from Southampton: In September, GB Railfreight began a new intermodal service from Solent Stevedores to Manchester. [...] This is the third daily working GBRf offers serving Southampton and GBRf's 17th intermodal service to date; it runs five days per week.

   • 2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 49:

     It created inter-city and intermodal services, which were genuinely world leading. And it undeniably pushed British Railways into the modern era.

Usage notes

• When discussing freight, intermodal usually refers to land/sea containers.

Derived terms

• intermodally

Translations

Relating to more than one mode of transport

• French: intermodal (fr) f
• Greek: διατροπικός (el) (diatropikós)
• Persian: ایستگاه‌های چندگانه (fa)
• Spanish: intermodal

See also

• balanced transportation
• containerised
• intermodalism
• transloading
• transshipment

Noun

intermodal (plural intermodals)

1. A shipping container for intermodal use.

References

• “intermodal”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• intramodel, mildronate, tremolandi

French

Etymology

From inter- +‎ modal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.tɛʁ.mɔ.dal/

• Audio:

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• Audio (Belgium):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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Adjective

intermodal (feminine intermodale, masculine plural intermodaux, feminine plural intermodales)

1. intermodal

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inteɾmoˈdal/ [ĩn̪.t̪eɾ.moˈð̞al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: in‧ter‧mo‧dal

Adjective

intermodal m or f (masculine and feminine plural intermodales)

1. intermodal

Further reading

• “intermodal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026