Dictionary

interpenetrate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɪntɚˈpɛnətɹeɪt/ (US)
• /ɪntəˈpɛnɪtɹeɪt/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *-tér Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥tér Proto-Italic *n̥ter Latin inter Latin inter-bor. English inter- English penetrate English interpenetrate From inter- + penetrate.

Meanings

1. To penetrate mutually or reciprocally.
2. To permeate or pervade.
   • It interpenetrates my granite mass, / Through tangled roots and trodden clay doth pass, / Into the utmost leaves and delicatest flowers; [...] 1818–1819 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Prometheus Unbound”, in Prometheus Unbound […], London: C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], published 1820, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 141:
   • [O]ur Religion is not yet a horrible restless Doubt, still less a far horribler composed Cant; but a great heaven-high Unquestionability, encompassing, interpenetrating the whole of Life. 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “Monk Samson”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk), page 46:

Forms