Meaning of intervene in English

Table of contents

Verb
intervene
Etymology
late 16th century (in the sense ‘come in as an extraneous factor or thing’): from Latin intervenire, from inter-‘between’ + venire‘come’
Definitions
1. get involved, so as to alter or hinder an action, or through force or threat of force
Examples
- « Why did the U.S. not intervene earlier in WW II? »
Derived terms
2. be placed or located between other things or extend between spaces and events
Examples
- « This interludes intervenes between the two movements »
- « Eight days intervened »
3. occur between other event or between certain points of time
Examples
- « the war intervened between the birth of her two children »

Famous quotes

« President Obama has basically avoided or not done any attempt to intervene in any positive way in the housing market. I think in the financial crisis that's been a shame. »
Glenn Hubbard
« The relationships that people have - that are sexual, psychological, emotional - these relationships are not open to supervision by parents, schools, churches, or government. Nobody has any right to intervene at all in any kind of relationship like that. »
Madalyn Murray O'Hair
« What if the Soviet intervention was a blessing in disguise? It saved the myth that if the Soviets were not to intervene, there would have been some flowering authentic democratic socialism and so on. I'm a little bit more of a pessimist there. I think that the Soviets - it's a very sad lesson - by their intervention, saved the myth. »
Slavoj Zizek
« History has shown us that, on extraordinarily rare occasions, it becomes necessary for the federal government to intervene on behalf of individuals whose 14th Amendment rights to legal due process and equal protection may be violated by a state. »
Michael K. Simpson