intervaln.

/ˈɪntəvəl/

Forms: α. Middle English enterwal, 1700s (sense 4) enterval(l. β. Middle English intervalle, 1600s intervall, 1600s– interval. See also intervale n.

Etymology: Ultimately < Latin intervallum, originally ‘space between palisades or ramparts’, later ‘interval of space or of time’, < inter between + vallum rampart. In French the word appears as entreval, antreval (13th cent.), entrevale, -valle (14–16th cent.), intervalle masculine from 14th cent. The earliest English example represents the first of these; the 14–16th cent. intervalle was evidently also immediately < French. The appearances of the word till the beginning of the 17th cent. are quite sporadic, having little or no historical connection with each other.

a. The period of time between two events, actions, etc., or between two parts of an action, performance, or sitting, two sessions of parliament, etc.; a period of cessation; a pause, break.Often used more or less specifically of a recognized short pause in the course of some otherwise continuous action, e.g. in the course of school hours, between the parts of a musical or dramatic performance, etc. In Scotland, the ordinary name for the short space between the morning and afternoon service at church. Applied by A. Wood (c1660–5) to the period of the Commonwealth.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > ceasing > temporary cessation of activity or operation > [noun] > a temporary cessation of activity or operation > between two events, actions, operations, etc.

intervalc1386

intervallum1574

wheta1628

interstice1639

period1865

grace period1880

tea break1948

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > [noun] > a performance > part of performance > interval

interval1667

intermission1927

c1386 G. Chaucer Melibeus ⁋567 Whan the defense is doon anon withouten Interualle or with-outen tariyng or delay.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 22444 Queþer þai [sc. signs of Doomsday] sal hal on ran bitide, Or enterwal [Coll. Phys. enterwall, Gött. enter-uale] bituix þam bide.

c1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1869) i. cliii. 76 With oute jnterualle alle thing enoyeth; bothe the faire weder, and thilke of reyn.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Intervalle, an Interual, intermedium, respit, pawse or space betweene. [Not in Minsheu or Florio, in rendering intervalo, intervallo.]

1660 A. Wood Life & Times (1891) I. 356 Habits much neglected in the late intervall.

1664 A. Wood Life & Times (1892) II. 26 John Hall..bred in the interval; a presbyterian.

1667 S. Pepys Diary 12 Aug. (1974) VIII. 383 I..talked to them all the intervalls of the play.

1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 6 Whoever considers the Acts of power, and injustice..in those intervals of Parliament.

a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 389 So matters were most in his hands during the intervals of Parliament.

1853 C. Brontë Villette II. xvii. 8 In the interval between the two acts, I ‘fell on sleep’.

1871 W. Black Daughter of Heth I. iv. 61 After the ‘interval’, as it was technically called, they had to go to church again.

b. spec. The space of time intervening between the beginning of one febrile paroxysm and that of the ensuing one ( New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon), or between any fits or periods of disease. lucid interval: see lucid adj. 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [noun] > bout or attack of > space between

lucid interval1603

interval1634

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > fever > [noun] > attack of > interval between

interval1634

apyrexy1656

1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. J. L. G. de Balzac Lett. 70 The interuals or good dayes of a Tertian Ague.

1713 A. Pope Narr. Robert Norris 15 If the Patient, on the third Day, have an Interval.

1771 J. Wesley Serm. ii. div. i. §9 Even this poor wretch, in his sober intervals, is able to testify, Oderunt peccare boni.

1887 in New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon

a. The space of time intervening between two points of time; any intervening time. Formerly often interval of time.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > [noun] > stretch, period, or portion of time > period of time between events or interval

waya1300

distancec1330

interstition1390

spacea1400

pastimea1513

vacance1533

intermission?1566

vacation1567

intervallum1574

interim1579

between-timea1586

wem1599

parenthesis1600

intermedium1611

betweena1616

fore-while?1615

interpolation1615

vacancya1616

interval1616

interstitium1624

slatcha1625

interspace1629

intermissa1633

between-spacea1641

interregnum1659

intervalea1661

interlapse1666

interlude1751

in-between1815

lapse1817

intermezzo1851

meanwhile1872

1616 J. Bullokar Eng. Expositor Interuall, a distance of time or place.

1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 62 In all which interval of time, there is a palpable and sensible heat produced.

1676 I. Mather Hist. King Philip's War (1862) 113 In this interval of time, the town of Mendam..was burnt down by the Indians.

1801 M. Edgeworth Prussian Vase in Moral Tales III. 57 There was no interval of time between his receiving the vase, and his putting it into the fire.

1809 A. Henry Trav. & Adventures Canada 2 The surrender of Montreal..followed that of Fort de Levi, at only the short interval of three days.

1849 G. Grote Hist. Greece VI. ii. xlvii. 17 An interval of more than sixty years.

1883 C. J. Wills In Land of Lion & Sun 159 After a decorous interval the bishop enters.

b. at (†by) intervals, now and again, not continuously. Also †by intervals, alternately.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > change > alternation > [adverb]

changeablyc1384

alternately1432

interchangeably1483

handy-dandya1529

time about1537

by course1548

at (by) intervals1588

alternatively1591

reciprocally1603

by reprises1607

alternally1627

alterably1635

altern1667

alternate1715

by vicissitudes1749

alternatingly1845

the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [adverb] > intermittently

by (formerly also at) startsc1422

startmeal?c1422

off and on1535

every otherwhile1542

by, or in, snatches1577

by fits and turns1583

by halves and fits1583

one time with another1591

fit-meal1593

by fits and spurts1605

planetarily?1609

scatteredly1612

startinglya1616

by snaps1631

intermittingly1654

from space to space1658

on and off1668

at (by) intervals1744

cessantly1746

by spells1788

fitfully1792

by fits and spasms1797

everylikea1800

intermittently1800

intermittedly1829

interjectionally1837

jerkily1839

at seasons1850

sporadically1852

parenthetically1860

spasmodically1877

snatchily1880

variously1892

1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. I iij Yat..ye cowrse of ye moone may haiff by interualles now 29. now 30. dayes.

1744 A. Dobbs Acct. Countries adjoining Hudson's Bay 12 The Month of February was variable..at Intervals warm, and then sharp Weather.

1760 G. Washington Writings (1889) II. 153 The Rain continued by intervals through the night.

1835 E. A. Poe Hans Pfaall in Wks. (1864) I. 10 A drizzling rain falling at intervals.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xi. 85 In spite of cold and hard boards, I slept at intervals.

c. Physics. A quantity ds, invariant under the Lorentz transformation, that represents the separation of two events in space-time and is defined by ds² = dx² + dy² + dz² − c²dt² (or by the negative of the right-hand side), where dx, dy, dz, and dt are the differences in the space and time coordinates of the events and c is the speed of light.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > relativity > space-time > [noun] > equation relating co-ordinates > invariant quantity

interval1918

the world > relative properties > number > calculus > [noun] > differential calculus > differentiation > differential

differential1702

moment1706

momentane1706

increment1721

element1728

momentum1735

H1872

interval1918

differentio-differential1939

1918 A. S. Eddington Rep. Relativity Theory Gravitation ii. 15 In the four-dimensional continuum the interval δs between two point-events..is unaffected by any rotation of the axes, and is therefore invariant for all observers.

1929 W. C. D. Whetham Hist. Sci. ix. 422 Just as the distance between two points in the continuous space of Euclidean geometry is the same however measured, so, in the new continuum of space-time, two events may be said to be separated by an ‘interval’, involving both space and time.

1952 C. Møller Theory of Relativity iv. 99 This expression for the line element or the interval defines the geometry in (3 + 1)-space.

1959 J. Aharoni Special Theory of Relativity i. 25 When the interval is time-like it is always possible to find a system of coordinates in which the events appear in the same place.

a. An open space lying between two things or two parts of the same thing; a gap, opening. Also, an intervening portion of something.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > [noun] > intervening space

spacec1350

interspacec1420

interval1489

distance1559

intervacuuma1633

vacuity1658

intervale1683

the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun] > opening or break in continuity

breakinga1300

breaka1400

interval1489

breach1530

gapa1616

discontinuity1676

puka1921

1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes i. xxiv. 73 The interualle or dystance that ought for to be betwix euery rowe.

1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. ii. xiv. 130 There cannot be more then one least Interval or Length between the same points.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 105 Now 'Twixt Host and Host but narrow space was left, A dreadful interval .

1717 D. Defoe Mem. Church of Scotl. ii. 189 He was driven back..by half the Number of the Scots Cavalry, with Musketeers in their Intervals.

1791 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina 316 One continued rapid, with some short intervals of still water.

1833 Regulations Instr. Cavalry i. i. 10 Open Interval is taken by each recruit stretching out his right arm so as to touch the shoulder of his right hand man, and keeping that distance from him.

1837 D. Brewster Treat. Magnetism 361 The intervals which separate the ultimate atoms of material bodies.

b. at intervals, here and there; at some distance from each other.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scattered [phrase] > at intervals

at intervals1814

1814 H. M. Brackenridge Views Louisiana i. vi. 91 These villages..are situated at intervals along the river.

1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 288 The spearsmen took their posts at intervals in the shallows.

4. In North America: = intervale n. 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > land near river > [noun]

haleOE

haugh1487

strath1549

wartha1641

freshes1652

intervale1653

interval1684

riverfront1751

river bottom1752

creek-bottom1822

flat1852

1684 in Hudson Hist. Sudbury (1889) 66 All the lands within said bounds of hills, vallies, planes, intervalls, meadows, swamps.

1725 S. Willard Jrnl. in Appalachia (Boston, 1881) II. 343 This morning we came on some Entervalls and plain land.

1725 S. Willard Jrnl. in Appalachia (Boston, 1881) II. 343 A still stream..with plenty of Enterval, and old planting land of y^e Indians.

1784 J. Belknap Belknap Papers (1877) II. 181 The intervals are excellent, and the uplands very good.

1843 W. H. Prescott Hist. Conquest Mexico I. i. v. 133 A natural opening in the forest, or a rich strip of interval.

a1862 H. D. Thoreau Yankee in Canada (1866) i. 4 A remarkably large and level interval, like the bed of a lake.

5. Music. The difference of pitch between two musical sounds or notes, either successive (in melody) or simultaneous (in harmony).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > interval > [noun]

distance1551

interval1609

discord1654

decima1808

1609 J. Dowland tr. A. Ornithoparchus Micrologus 17 An Interuall..is the distance of a base and high sound.

1609 J. Dowland tr. A. Ornithoparchus Micrologus 17 The vsuall Interuals are in number 9.

1676 tr. G. Guillet de Saint-Georges Acct. Voy. Athens 308 At a distance that agreed exactly with the intervals and modulation of the Musick.

1807 J. Robinson Archæol. Græca v. xxiii. 534 In music the Greeks distinguished sounds, intervals, concords [etc.].

1864 A. Bain Senses & Intellect (ed. 2) i. ii. 215 Although in music no less intervals than a semitone are admitted, the ear can distinguish still smaller differences.

6. figurative. Distance between persons in respect of position, endowments, beliefs, etc., or between things in respect of their qualities.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [noun] > gap, chasm, or interval

chasm1641

longo intervallo1759

interval1849

gap1857

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. ii. 186 The interval between the Episcopalian and the Presbyterian seemed to vanish, when compared with the interval which separated both from the Papist.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. ix. 450 The interval was immense between discontent and rebellion.

1855 A. Bain Senses & Intellect i. ii. 139 From turtle to stale oat-cakes, or a piece of black bread, what a mighty interval!

7. Mathematics.

a. A range between one number and another; spec. that between successive values of the argument in a mathematical table.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > numerical arrangement > [noun] > set > elements in or parts of

interval1838

identity1894

identity element1902

complement1937

supremum1938

infimum1940

sup1940

equivalence class1952

1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 508/2 The smaller the tabular interval, the more correctly will a given number of differences serve to make the interpolation.

1911 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 862/2 The actual calculation of the number of primes in a given interval may be effected by a formula constructed and used by D. F. E. Meissel.

1928 Monthly Notices Royal Astron. Soc. LXXXVIII. 506 The Lagrangian method of interpolating to fixed sub-divisions of an interval.

1946 Nature 12 Oct. 504/1 The basic sequence is the integration procedure for one interval of the integration, which is a sequence of operations starting from the initial values for that interval and giving final values which become the initial values for the next interval.

1968 L. Fox & D. F. Mayers Computing Methods for Scientists & Engineers i. 8 If 1·5 ≤ x ≤ 2·5, then y = x¹⁰ is in the approximate interval 57·6 ≤ y ≤ 9536·7.

1974 Nature 26 Apr. 739/1 The grain temperature..is determined by the emissivity between 4 and 15 μm. We have carried out calculations..over this spectral interval.

b. A set composed of all the numbers between two given numbers, which may be either included in the set (a closed interval) or excluded (an open interval); an analogously defined subset of any partially ordered set.The distinction made in quot. 1949 is not usual.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > numerical arrangement > [noun] > set

set1857

interval1902

intersection1909

union1912

lattice1933

matroid1935

closure1937

Steiner triple or triplet system1939

recursive set1943

convex hull1951

power set1953

convex envelope1964

Steiner system1966

Julia set1976

Mandelbrot set1984

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 545/2 This domain may be an ‘interval’, i.e., it may consist of two terminal numbers, all the numbers between them and no others.

1949 S. Lefschetz Introd. Topol. i. 27 If the real line L is parameterized by means of a parameter u, then an interval is a set: a < u < b, and a segment is a set a ≤ u ≤ b, a < b.

1962 B. H. Arnold Intuitive Concepts Elem. Topol. viii. 164 It is easy to see that a set A ⊂ R is an interval if and only if it contains all points which lie between any two of its members.

1965 A. Abian Theory of Sets iv. 184 Let (P, ≦) be a partially ordered set. For every two elements a and b of P, the set of all elements of P such that a ≦ x ≦ b is called a closed interval and is denoted by [a, b], and the set of all elements x of P such that a < x < b is called an open interval and is denoted by (a, b).

Compounds

C1. General attributive.

a. (In sense 1.)

interval issue n.

ΚΠ

1652 E. Benlowes Theophila sig. A7 In reviewing these Intervall Issues of spiritual Recreation.

interval man n.

ΚΠ

1660 A. Wood Life & Times (1891) I. 356 To encourage others, especially the intervall men..and make the intervall way..neglected and ridiculous..just antipodes to the intervall time.

interval music n.

ΚΠ

1951 Festival of Brit.: Catal. Exhibits: South Bank Exhib. (H.M.S.O.) 176 Recordings for Interval Music.

1967 Daily Tel. 12 May 20/6 The unchanging interval-music.

interval prose n.

ΚΠ

1970 Listener 8 Jan. 60/2 The material..provided interval prose of just the right emotional tone between two parts of a good concert.

interval time n.

ΚΠ

1660Interval time [see interval man n.].

interval way n.

ΚΠ

1660Interval way [see interval man n.].

b. (In sense 3.)

interval distance n.

ΚΠ

1796 Instr. & Regulations Cavalry 190 In open column the leading division of each squadron preserves the interval distance from the one before.

c. (In sense 4.)

interval land n.

ΚΠ

1683 in J. H. Temple & G. Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. (1875) 95 That every person that has 60 acres granted of interval land, shall settle two inhabitants upon it.

1771 J. Adams Diary 7 June (1961) II. 28 The Road is 3/4 of a mile from the River and the intervale Land lies between.

1805 Lady Hunter in Sir. M. Hunter's Journ. (1894) 223 Except an island..and the interval lands, the rest is very bad land.

C2.

interval running n. in Athletics, a method of training by running set distances at pre-determined speeds (opposed to fartlek n.).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > training > [noun]

training1581

work1846

training session1850

overtraining1856

roadwork1856

cross-training1903

groundwork1906

sweat1916

repetition1919

repetition running1955

weight training1955

circuit training1957

interval running1957

interval training1962

repetition training1965

brick1996

1957 Oxf. Pocket Bk. Athletic Training (ed. 2) 22 Interval running,..a series of runs over a particular distance each in a certain time..linked up by jogging between each.

interval signal n. Broadcasting (see quot. 1941).

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > broadcasting > a broadcast programme or item > [noun] > break between programmes or signal

station break1931

interval signal1932

break1941

programme junction1941

1932 B.B.C. Year-bk. 373 The sudden failure of the programme..is likely to cause the listener to think his set has become faulty. The radiation of the interval signal relieves all anxieties on this account.

1941 B.B.C. Gloss. Broadcasting Terms 16 Interval Signal, particular sequence of sounds used by a broadcasting organization to fill short intervals between programmes, and to enable listeners to identify its transmissions.

interval training n.

ΘΚΠ