What does intern mean?
Intern has two well-established but contrasting meanings. In its older and historical sense, it means to confine someone, often a prisoner or enemy national, to a particular place or institution. In contemporary professional and educational contexts, it means to train someone as an intern: typically a student, recent graduate, or early-career worker who gains practical experience for a limited period. The verb can also mean to work as an intern. As a noun, intern refers to a person receiving such training, though it can also denote someone who has been confined. The modern training sense is generally neutral and often associated with a temporary or entry-level position, while the confinement sense carries strong historical associations with wartime detention and internment.
To confine or imprison someone, especially during wartime or as a measure of control.
"The authorities interned suspected enemy nationals for the duration of the war."
This sense is chiefly historical and is especially associated with wartime detention.
To train or employ someone as an intern, usually for a limited period.
"The hospital interned graduates in its research division."
Common in educational, professional, and employment contexts.
To work as an intern.
"He interned at a technology company before graduating."
The infinitive is often used without the progressive form in formal career descriptions.
A person undergoing a period of supervised training in a profession or organization.
"The intern presented her findings to the engineering team."
This is the dominant modern sense of the noun.
The regular plural is used for people employed as interns. In the historical confinement sense, intern is also used, though internee is often more specific.
"Several interns joined the research team."
One word carries two opposite-looking ideas: confinement and opportunity, as internships place young professionals inside the working world.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does intern come from?
The verb comes through French from Latin internare, a form of internare meaning “to put inside” or “to confine,” derived from internus, meaning “inner” or “interior.” The employment meaning developed comparatively recently from the idea of a learner being placed within an organization to receive training. The word is cognate with internal and interior, while internment derives from the same historical confinement sense.
Related word forms
How intern is actually used
The verb has different stress patterns in American and British English: initial stress is common in the United States, while final stress is common in Britain. Its employment-related sense is now more common in everyday use than the historical sense of detention.
Easily confused with intern
An intern is the person being confined or trained, while an internee is specifically a person held in custody.