Other forms: interludes
An interlude is a short break between two longer parts. A musical interlude, a brief interlude, an interlude of calm.
It is defined by what it sits between rather than by itself, which is why an interlude of calm implies trouble on both sides of it. In medieval theatre an interlude was a short play performed between the acts of a longer one, which is where the word starts. Note that the Latin means play between.
1nouninterludeA short break between two longer parts.
“Apart from a brief sunny interlude on Tuesday, it rained all week.”
interlude is a break.
Proto-Indo-European
*ters-
Vulgar Latin
*interrāre — to put in earth
Old French
enterrer
Middle English
enteren
English
inter
English, today
interlude
From inter- + lūdō. 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