interval

English

Etymology

From Middle English interval, intervalle, from Old French intervalle, entreval, from Latin intervallum (“space between, interval, distance, interval of time, pause, difference; literally, space between two palisades or walls”), from inter (“between”) +‎ vallum (“palisade, wall”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɪntəvəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɪntɚvəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧ter‧val

Noun

interval (plural intervals)

1. A distance in space.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     'Twixt host and host but narrow space was left, / A dreadful interval.

   • 1666 September 8, The London Gazette:

     [M]any attempts were made to prevent the spreading of it [the fire] by pulling down Houses, and making great Intervals, but all in vain, the Fire seizing upon the Timber and Rubbish, and so continuing it set even through those spaces […]

2. A period of time.

   the interval between contractions during childbirth

3. (music) The difference (a ratio or logarithmic measure) in pitch between two notes, often referring to those two pitches themselves (otherwise known as a dyad).
4. (mathematics) A connected section of the real line which may be empty or have a length of zero.
5. (chiefly UK and India) An intermission.
6. (sports) half time, a scheduled intermission between the periods of play.
   • 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport‎^[1], archived from the original on 1 February 2012:

     Spain made three substitutions at the interval, sending on former Arsenal captain Fabregas, Chelsea's Juan Mata and Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina for Xavi, David Silva and Casillas.

7. (cricket) Either of the two breaks, at lunch and tea, between the three sessions of a day's play.

Hyponyms

• (mathematics): open interval, half-open interval, closed interval, sub-interval/subinterval,

Derived terms

• augmented interval
• bit interval
• Boutellier interval
• compound interval
• confidence interval
• contour interval
• devil's interval
• diminished interval
• equal-interval chord
• even-interval
• generic interval
• high-intensity interval training
• hyperinterval
• interval class
• interval cycle
• intervaled
• intervalize
• intervallic
• intervally
• interval of time
• intervalometer
• interval time
• interval training
• interval transit time
• interval variable
• lucid interval
• major interval
• midinterval
• minor interval
• mixed-interval chord
• musical interval
• perfect interval
• postmortem interval
• punctured interval
• QT interval
• serial interval
• superfluous interval
• surface interval
• time interval
• unit interval
• vertical interval
• Wilson score interval
• wolf interval

Translations

distance in space

• Altai:

  Southern Altai: ара (ara)

• Arabic: فَاصِل m (fāṣil)
• Asturian: intervalu m
• Azerbaijani: aralıq (az)
• Belarusian: інтэрва́л m (intervál), праме́жак m (pramjéžak)
• Bulgarian: разстоя́ние (bg) n (razstojánie), промежду́тък (bg) m (promeždútăk), интерва́л (bg) m (intervál)
• Catalan: interval m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 間隔 / 间隔 (zh) (jiàngé), 間隙 / 间隙 (zh) (jiànxì)

• Czech: interval (cs) m
• Dutch: interval (nl) n
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} interdistanco
• Estonian: vahemik
• Finnish: välimatka (fi)
• French: intervalle (fr) m
• Galician: intervalo (gl) m
• Georgian: დაშორება (dašoreba), მანძილი (manʒili)
• German: Abstand (de) m, Zwischenraum (de) m
• Greek: απόσταση (el) f (apóstasi)

  Ancient Greek: διάλειμμα n (diáleimma)

• Gujarati: મધ્યાંતર (madhyāntar)
• Hindi: अंतराल (hi) m (antrāl)
• Hungarian: köz (hu), térköz (hu), távolság (hu), táv (hu)
• Indonesian: lat (id), selang (id)
• Italian: intervallo (it) m
• Japanese: 間隔 (ja) (かんかく, kankaku)
• Kannada: ಮಧ್ಯಂತರ (kn) (madhyantara)
• Korean: 간격(間隔) (ko) (gan'gyeok)
• Latin: intervallum m
• Lithuanian: tarpas m
• Macedonian: растојание n (rastojanie), меѓупростор m (meǵuprostor)
• Malay: jeda (ms)
• Māori: mokowā, mokorawhā, āpuru
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: intervall n

• Persian: بازه (fa) (bâze)
• Polish: interwał (pl), odstęp (pl) m
• Portuguese: intervalo (pt) m
• Romanian: interval (ro) n, distanță (ro) f
• Russian: интерва́л (ru) m (intɛrvál), промежу́ток (ru) m (promežútok), расстоя́ние (ru) n (rasstojánije)
• Scottish Gaelic: eadar-thamall m
• Spanish: intervalo (es) m
• Tagalog: patlang
• Tamil: இடைவெளி (ta) (iṭaiveḷi)
• Thai: ช่วง (th) (chûuang), ระยะ (th) (rá-yá)
• Turkish: ara (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: آرا (ara), آرالق (aralık), خلال (hilal), مابین (mabeyin)

• Ukrainian: інтерва́л m (intervál), промі́жок m (promížok)
• Venetan: tòco (vec) m, tòch (vec) m, toco (vec) m

period of time — see also period,‎ lapse

• Arabic: مُدَّة f (mudda), فَتْرَة f (fatra)
• Bangi: eleko
• Basque: tarte (eu)
• Belarusian: інтэрва́л m (intervál), праме́жак m (pramjéžak)
• Bengali: মুদ্দত (bn) (muddot)
• Bulgarian: интерва́л (bg) m (intervál)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 間隔 / 间隔 (zh) (jiàngé), 間隙 / 间隙 (zh) (jiànxì)

• Czech: interval (cs) m
• Dutch: interval (nl) n
• Esperanto: intertempo
• Estonian: vahemik
• Finnish: aika (fi), aikaväli (fi)
• French: intervalle (fr) m
• Galician: intervalo (gl) m
• Georgian: ინტერვალი (inṭervali), შუალედი (šualedi), დროის მონაკვეთი (drois monaḳveti)
• German: Intervall (de) n
• Greek: διάστημα (el) n (diástima), περίοδος (el) f (períodos), διάλειμμα (el) n (diáleimma)

  Ancient Greek: διάλειμμα n (diáleimma)

• Hindi: अंतराल (hi) f (antrāl)
• Hungarian: időköz (hu), intervallum (hu)
• Irish: eadar-àm m
• Italian: intervallo (it) m
• Japanese: 間隔 (ja) (かんかく, kankaku)
• Korean: 간격(間隔) (ko) (gan'gyeok)
• Ladino: tòch m
• Latin: intervallum m
• Lingala: eleko
• Macedonian: ме́ѓувреме n (méǵuvreme), интерва́л m (intervál)
• Malay: jeda (ms)
• Māori: houanga, whakamatuatanga
• Mirandese: anterbalo m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mellomrom n, intervall n

  Nynorsk: mellomrom n, intervall n

• Polish: interwał (pl)
• Portuguese: intervalo (pt) m
• Romanian: interval (ro) n
• Russian: интерва́л (ru) m (intɛrvál), промежу́ток (ru) m (promežútok)
• Scottish Gaelic: eadar-thamall m
• Spanish: intervalo (es) m
• Swedish: intervall (sv) n, tidsintervall (sv) n
• Tamil: இடைவெளி (ta) (iṭaiveḷi)
• Thai: ตอน (th) (dtɔɔn)
• Turkish: aralık (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: آرا (ara), آرالق (aralık)

• Ukrainian: інтерва́л m (intervál), промі́жок m (promížok)
• Venetan: intervalo m, tòco (vec) m, tòch (vec) m
• Vietnamese: khoảng thời gian
• Volapük: vütim (vo)

music: distance in pitch of notes

• Arabic: مَسَافَة f (masāfa)
• Belarusian: інтэрва́л m (intervál)
• Bulgarian: интерва́л (bg) m (intervál)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 音程 (zh) (yīnchéng)

• Dutch: interval (nl) n
• Finnish: intervalli (fi)
• Georgian: ინტერვალი (inṭervali)
• German: Intervall (de) n
• Hawaiian: lele
• Hungarian: hangköz (hu)
• Italian: intervallo (it) m
• Japanese: 音程 (ja) (おんてい, ontei)
• Korean: 음정(音程) (ko) (eumjeong)
• Māori: āputa
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: intervall n

  Nynorsk: intervall n

• Polish: interwał (pl) m
• Romanian: interval (ro) n
• Russian: интерва́л (ru) m (intɛrvál)
• Swedish: intervall (sv) n
• Tagalog: patlang
• Ukrainian: інтерва́л m (intervál)

section of the real line

• Bulgarian: отсе́чка (bg) f (otséčka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 區間 / 区间 (zh) (qūjiān)

• Czech: interval (cs) m
• Finnish: väli (fi)
• French: intervalle (fr) m
• Italian: intervallo (it) m
• Japanese: 区間 (ja) (くかん, kukan)
• Korean: 구간(區間) (ko) (gugan)
• Macedonian: интерва́л m (intervál)
• Polish: przedział (pl) m
• Portuguese: intervalo (pt) m
• Spanish: intervalo (es) m
• Swedish: intervall (sv) n
• Tamil: இடைவெளி (ta) (iṭaiveḷi)

intermission — see intermission

sports:half time — see half time

cricket: break between sessions

• Finnish: erätauko
• Tamil: இடைவெளி (ta) (iṭaiveḷi)

Further reading

• “interval”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “interval”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “interval”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Interval on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Interval in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• linear TV

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin intervallum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [in.tərˈbal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [in.tərˈval]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.teɾˈval]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [in.terˈbal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

interval m (plural intervals)

1. interval

Further reading

• “interval”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “interval”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “interval” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “interval”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɪntɛrval]

Noun

interval m inan

1. (mathematics) interval

Declension

Declension of interval (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	interval	intervaly
genitive	intervalu	intervalů
dative	intervalu	intervalům
accusative	interval	intervaly
vocative	intervale	intervaly
locative	intervalu	intervalech
instrumental	intervalem	intervaly

Derived terms

• interval spolehlivosti
• intervalový
• konfidenční interval
• otevřený interval
• uzavřený interval

Further reading

• “interval”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “interval”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “interval”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪntərvɑl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

interval n (plural intervallen, diminutive intervalletje n)

1. interval

Derived terms

• integratie-interval

See also

• tussenruimte

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *-tér

Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥tér

Proto-Italic *n̥ter

Latin inter

Proto-Indo-European *welH-der.

Proto-Italic *walso-

Latin vallum

Latin intervallumlbor.

French intervallebor.

Romanian interval

Borrowed from French intervalle, a learned borrowing from Latin intervallum.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

interval n (plural intervale)

1. interval

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	interval	intervalul	intervale	intervalele
genitive-dative	interval	intervalului	intervale	intervalelor
vocative	intervalule		intervalelor

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /intěrʋaːl/
• Hyphenation: in‧ter‧val

Noun

intèrvāl m inan (Cyrillic spelling интѐрва̄л)

1. interval

Declension

Declension of interval

	singular	plural
nominative	intèrvāl	intervali
genitive	intervála	intervala
dative	intervalu	intervalima
accusative	interval	intervale
vocative	intervale	intervali
locative	intervalu	intervalima
instrumental	intervalom	intervalima