interstice
/ɪnˈtɚ.stəs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.09 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A small opening or space between objects, especially adjacent objects or objects set closely together, such as between cords in a rope, components of a multiconductor electrical cable or atoms in a crystal.
noun
An interval of time required by the Roman Catholic Church between the attainment of different degrees of an order.
noun
A small interval of time free to be spent on activities other than one's primary goal.
Example Sentences
- "1887, Osborne Reynolds, Experiments showing Dilatancy, in Notices of the Proceedings, Volume 11, Royal Institution of Great Britain, page 360, The tide leaves the sand, though apparently dry on the surface, with all its interstices perfectly full of water which is kept up to the surface of the sand by capillary attraction; at the same time the water is percolating through the sand from the sands above where the capillary action is not sufficient to hold the water. When the foot falls on this water-saturated sand it tends to change its shape, but it cannot do this without enlarging the interstices—without drawing in more water. This is a work of time, so that the foot is gone again before the sand has yielded."
- "Relics of the British empire now mostly survive in the interstices of the global economy. They are the major winners from the fiscal haemorrhage that has resulted from financial globalisation."
Etymology
From late Middle English interstice, from Old French interstice or directly from Latin interstitium (“a space between, gap, interval”), ultimately from intersistere (“to stand in between, to stop in the middle”), from inter- + sistere (“to stand, to stop”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Prefix: inter
- Root: *steh₂-, interstice, interstitium
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɪnˈtɚ.stəs/
- British English: /ɪnˈtɜː.stɪs/