interstate (adj.)

1838, American English, in reference to traffic in slaves, from inter- "between" + state (n.) in the U.S. sense. Interstate commerce is that carried on by persons in one U.S. state with persons in another. Noun sense of "an interstate highway" is attested by 1975, American English.

Entries linking to interstate

inter-

word-forming element used freely in English, "between, among, during," from Latin inter (prep., adv.) "among, between, betwixt, in the midst of" (also used extensively as a prefix), from PIE *enter "between, among" (source also of Sanskrit antar, Old Persian antar "among, between," Greek entera (plural) "intestines," Old Irish eter, Old Welsh ithr "among, between," Gothic undar, Old English under "under"), a comparative of root *en "in."

A living prefix in English from 15c. and used with Germanic as well as Latinate words. Spelled entre- in French; most words borrowed into English in that form were re-spelled 16c. to conform with Latin except entertain, enterprise. In Latin, spelling shifted to intel- before -l-, hence intelligence, etc.

state (n.1)

c. 1200, "circumstances, position in society, temporary attributes of a person or thing, conditions," from Old French estat "position, condition; status, stature, station," and directly from Latin status "a station, position, place; way of standing, posture; order, arrangement, condition," figuratively "standing, rank; public order, community organization," noun of action from past participle stem of stare "to stand" from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm." Some Middle English senses are via Old French estat (French état; see estate).

The Latin word was adopted into other modern Germanic languages (German, Dutch staat) but chiefly in the political senses only. Meaning "physical condition as regards form or structure" is attested from late 13c. Meaning "mental or emotional condition" is attested from 1530s (phrase state of mind first attested 1749); colloquial sense of "agitated or perturbed state" is from 1837.

He [the President] shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. [U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section iii]

Others are reading

Share interstate

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/interstate

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/interstate">Etymology of interstate by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of interstate. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/interstate

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of interstate,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/interstate.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of interstate.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/interstate. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of interstate.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/interstate (accessed $(datetime)).

Definitions of interstate

interstate (n.)

one of the system of highways linking major cities in the 48 contiguous states of the United States;

Synonyms: interstate highway

interstate (adj.)

involving and relating to the mutual relations of states especially of the United States;

interstate commerce

interstate highways

From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near interstate

intersex

interspace

interspecific

intersperse

interspersion

interstate

interstellar

interstice

interstitial

intersubjective

interterritorial