Other forms: interfaces
An interface is the point where a person meets a machine — the screens, buttons and controls through which you tell a system what to do. A clean interface, a confusing interface, the user interface.
It is also the boundary between two systems of any kind: two programs talk to each other through an interface, and in programming an interface is a formal declaration of what a component offers. In science it means the surface where two substances meet, which is the original and most literal sense. The verb, to interface with somebody, means to work with them, and it is business jargon that a great many people find irritating.
1nouninterfaceThe screens and controls through which a person uses a machine.
“The interface has not been redesigned since 2011.”
synonyms: UI, front end
2nounboundaryThe boundary at which two systems meet and exchange information.
“The two databases talk through a simple interface.”
3nounsurfaceThe surface where two substances meet.
“Bubbles form at the interface between oil and water.”
interface is a meeting point.
Also accepted in games: ui
Proto-Indo-European
*ters-
Vulgar Latin
*interrāre — to put in earth
Old French
enterrer
Middle English
enteren
English
inter
English, today
interface
From inter- + face. inter comes from Middle English enteren, borrowed from Old French enterrer, enterer, from Vulgar Latin interrāre (“to put in earth”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA