intermediate
1 Americanadjective
-
being, situated, or acting between two points, stages, things, persons, etc..
the intermediate steps in a procedure.
-
of or relating to an intermediate school.
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Automotive. mid-size.
noun
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intermediates
plural
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a person who acts between others; intermediary; mediator.
-
something intermediate, as a form or class.
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Chemistry. a derivative of the initial material formed before the desired product of a chemical process.
verb (used without object)
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intermediates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
intermediated,
past participle, past
-
intermediating
present participle
adjective
-
occurring or situated between two points, extremes, places, etc; in between
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(of a class, course, etc) suitable for learners with some degree of skill or competence
-
physics (of a neutron) having an energy between 100 and 100 000 electronvolts
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geology (of such igneous rocks as syenite) containing between 55 and 66 per cent silica
noun
-
something intermediate
-
a substance formed during one of the stages of a chemical process before the desired product is obtained
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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intermediacynoun
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intermediatenessnoun
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intermediationnoun
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intermediatornoun
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intermediatoryadjective
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intermediatelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
intermediatesimple
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intermediatessimple
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have intermediatedperfect
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has intermediatedperfect
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am intermediatingprogressive
-
are intermediatingprogressive
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is intermediatingprogressive
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have been intermediatingperfect progressive
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has been intermediatingperfect progressive
Past
-
intermediatedsimple
-
had intermediatedperfect
-
was intermediatingprogressive
-
were intermediatingprogressive
-
had been intermediatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of intermediate1
1615–25; < Medieval Latin intermediātus, equivalent to Latin intermedi ( us ) intermediary ( inter- inter- + medius middle, in the middle) + -ātus -ate 1
Origin of intermediate2
1600–10; < Medieval Latin intermediātus, past participle of intermediāre. See inter-, mediate
Explanation
Use the adjective intermediate when you find yourself in that in-between stage, like after you complete an introductory class but before you are ready for the advanced stuff. The word intermediate comes from the Latin intermediatus, tracing back to intermedius, which combines inter-, meaning “between” and medius, meaning “middle.” So you can see that intermediate describes something or someone in the middle, between two distinct phases, like an intermediate swimmer who has mastered the basic strokes but isn't yet ready to join the racing team.
Vocabulary lists containing intermediate
Power Prefix: inter-
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Four Power Prefixes: anti-, con-, inter-, and uni-.
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Unit 2: Evolution
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Some of the increase in July was driven by a 4.3% jump in intermediate goods orders—those used to make other products like chemicals or semiconductors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Neutral atomic hydrogen occupies an important intermediate position between the universe's larger gas supply and the molecular hydrogen that can ultimately fuel star formation.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
A lawyer herself, Harris notes that because the country already has 13 intermediate courts of appeal, a 13-member Supreme Court would allow each justice to review motions from a lower court one-to-one.
From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2026
Bitcoin has broken its intermediate downtrend, reclaimed important moving averages and pushed through resistance on stronger volume.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
The whole point of chest pain prediction is to make sure that patients who end up having major complications are assigned right away to the coronary and intermediate units.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Two seconds of that offset can be accounted for by a slower pit stop, the other five by the extra lap on worn intermediates.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2025
That suggests Norris had previously been managing his pace to contain the wear on his intermediates.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2025
However, despite this success, creating o-bromobenzenethiols by adding a bromine molecule and a thiol group to these intermediates has been tough.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2024
Recently, scientists have found a new method with great potential to synthesize various complex aromatic compounds by selectively adding molecules on aryne intermediates.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2024
We can be almost certain, then, given these assumptions, that two people chosen at random will be linked, as were the strangers on the business trip, by a chain of at most two intermediates.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
Analyst Thomas Strong says funding costs are the biggest surprise in Judo’s trading update and he sees them benefiting further from the Australian business lender’s previously announced introduction of intermediated savings deposits from next month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
Critically, it said a digital dollar would "best suit" U.S. needs if it were intermediated through the current financial system.
From Reuters ● Jan. 20, 2022
Speech has never been more free or less intermediated.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 3, 2019
The SEC’s investigation also concluded that the DAO wasn’t a general partnership made up of its various token holders, because there was a layer of management that intermediated between the fund and its investors.
From The Verge ● Jul. 27, 2017
Funds and assistance for the preparation of intermediated drafts and logistics support for all stages of preparation of this guide were provided by Biological Systems, Inc.,
From Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic A Guide to Their Identification by David Caldwell
Banks like JPMorgan have been reckoning with the growing popularity of stablecoins, which threaten the traditional role that they have played in intermediating payments between customers around the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026
We were intermediating and we were hedging our risk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026
Dealers typically support market liquidity by intermediating customer trades - for example, by taking customer sell orders into inventory when buyers are absent.
From Reuters ● Nov. 8, 2022
Uber embraced the mayor's decision, calling it "the first step toward guaranteeing that apps intermediating travel with technology have a place in the city."
From Reuters ● May 10, 2016
Man is like the great universe, and in both the spiritual cannot come in direct contact with the corporeal, but needs intermediating powers to bring the extremes together.
From A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy by Isaac Husik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
