A Dictionary of Cont..

interpellate 254
300,000,000 human beings, a speech that forges
ahead of all its competitors “simply because it
is already spoken by more than half of all the
people in the world who may be said, with any
plausibility, to be worth knowing.”
interpellate; interpolate. To interpellute is to interrupt
a speech in Parliament or in the
Chamber of Deputies to ask a member of the
government to explain some official act or
policy. It is a rare word, confined now to this
special use. To interpolate is to alter a text by
the insertion of a word or phrase or longer
statement. There is usually a suggestion that the
inserted matter is spurious and the insertion an
act of deceit. The word is also used to mean the
interposition of a remark into a conversation.
In this sense it has no unfavorable connotation.
See also interject.
interpret. See explain.
interpretative; interpretive. Although the adjective
interpretive is acceptable for that which
serves to interpret or explain, interpretative is
the preferred form.
interred; interned. That is interred which is
buried, placed in a tomb, especially with appropriate
ceremonies (The evil that men do lives
after them;/ The good is oft interred with their
bones). He is interned who is obliged to live
within prescribed limits under prohibition to
leave them, as a prisoner of war or an enemy
alien, or a combatant who has taken refuge in
a neutral country. Ships of belligerents are also
interned when during wartime they are detained
in the port of some neutral country.
Zntern is also used as a verb in the United
States to mean serving as an intern (or interne),
a resident member of the medical staff of a hospital
(After receiving his degree at Northwestern
University Medical School, he interned
at Christ’s Hospital in Cincinnati).
interregnum. The plural is interregnums or interregna.
interrogative pronouns and adjectives. The words
who, whose, whom, which, and what, are interrogatives
when they are used without an antecedent
that precedes them in the sentence. Who
and whom are always pronouns. Whose, which,
and what, may be used as pronouns or as adjectives.
Interrogatives always stand before the
verb in a simple question, such as what did he
do?, and in a subordinate clause that carries an
indirect question, as in Z don’t know what he
did. See questions.
(For the person and number of an interrogative
pronoun, see agreement: verbs; for case, see
who; whom.)
interrogative sentences. See questions.
into. This is a preposition. It represents the relation
expressed by in with the added implication
of motion or direction. In also may be used
where the idea of motion is involved, as in he
went in the house, he fell in the water. Some
grammarians consider this regrettable and would
like to see in driven out of these constructions.
Some others feel that in should be allowed
when “the idea of remaining is prominent.”
Speaking historically, in once carried all the
meaning of into, but this is now decidedly
weakened. Into suggests motion more emphatically
than in does, but either preposition can
be used.
In is sometimes used as a pure adverb, or as
part of a compound verb, as in they went in.
An expression of this kind may happen to be
followed by a prepositional phrase beginning
with to, as in they went in to see him, they went
in to dinner. This separate use of in and of to
must not be confused with the single idea into.
We say send this in to the secretary but not send
this into the secretary.
Into is used freely in a literal sense with
verbs of changing, making, moving. It is also
used with certain other verbs simply to make
the action more penetrating, as in enter into,
examine into. Look at this report means no
more than to read it. But look into it means to
really learn something about it.
intolerable; intolerant. That is intolerable which
is unendurable, insufferable, not tolerable (The
heat in the little room exposed all day to the
glaring sun was intolerable). It was formerly
used in a loose sense to mean excessive or great
(0 monstrous, but one half pennyworth of
bread to this intolerable deal of suck?) but this
meaning is now obsolete.
He is intolerant who is bigoted, unable or indisposed
to endure contrary opinions, especially
religious or political opinions (He was u stuunch
Republicun and intolerant of any expression
that seemed to favor the New Deal). The adjective
is often applied to expressions, gestures,
or attitudes that reflect the intolerance of those
who express or hold them (Such intolerant
phrases may ease the wrath of those who
express them but they do not conduce to
harmony in mixed groups). The intolerant are
usually intolerable.
intoxicated. See drunk.
intransitive verbs. A verb is said to be intransitive
if it does not require an object to complete its
meaning. Intransitives are sometimes called
“complete” verbs. A transitive verb, on the
other hand, has an object. The verbs are transitive
in the face that launched a thousund ships
and burnt the topless towers of Ilium; they are
intransitive in now the great winds shoreward
blow, now the salt tides seaward flow; now the
wild white horses play, chump and chafe and
toss in the spray. (See object of a verb.) Linking
verbs, such as is in April is the cruelest month,
are considered intransitive. They cannot stand
by themselves as other intransitives can, but the
words that follow them add something to the
meaning of the subject and not to the meaning
of the verb. See linking verbs.
Many verbs can be used either transitively
or intransitively. Most intransitives can be
made technically transitive by using an object
that simply repeats the meaning of the verb, as
in smile a timid smile, think a bitter thought,
live a lonely life. This device should not be
condemned as redundant. It is sometimes a
more effective way of qualifying the verb than
the usual adverbial construction, such as smile