Interval

Pronunciation

Origin

From Old French intervalle

, from Latin intervallum ("space between, interval, distance, interval of time, pause, difference; literally, space between two palisades or walls"), from inter ("between") + vallum ("palisade, wall").

Full definition of interval

Noun

1. A distance in space.
• Milton'Twixt host and host but narrow space was left,
  A dreadful interval.
2. A period of time.the interval between contractions during childbirth
3. (music) The difference (a ratio or logarithmic measure) in pitch between two notes, often referring to those two pitches themselves (otherwise known as a dyad).
4. (mathematics) A connected section of the real line which may be empty or have a length of zero.
5. (chiefly British) An intermission.
6. (sports) half time, a scheduled intermission between the periods of play
• 2011, November 12, , International friendly: England 1-0 Spain, Spain made three substitutions at the interval, sending on former Arsenal captain Fabregas, Chelsea's Juan Mata and Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina for Xavi, David Silva and Casillas.
7. (cricket) Either of the two breaks, at lunch and tea, between the three sessions of a day's play

Hyponyms

• (mathematics) open interval, half-open interval, closed interval

Related terms

• interval class
• interval cycle