intermission

US/ɪntɚˈmɪʃən/

nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,248 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: intermissions

An intermission is the break in the middle of a long show. During the intermission, a twenty-minute intermission, no intermission.

It is the American word; British theatres say interval. The break exists partly for the audience and largely for the bar, which is where a theatre makes a good deal of its money. Films dropped it as running times shortened.

Definitions of intermission

1nounintermissionThe break in the middle of a long show.B2+
“During the intermission, we bought ice creams and stretched our legs in the foyer.”

intermission is a break.

Also accepted in games: interval

Where it comes from

Proto-Indo-European
*mey- (change)
Latin
intermissiō
English, today
intermission

From Latin intermissiō.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Music, Art & Culture

Practise this word

intermission in the wild

The halftime show also often describes television studio shows during the intermission which review scores and stories from across the league's schedule during that break between action.
Halftime show
An intermission was used between the two "acts" of the film, with the first act usually somewhat longer than the second.
Roadshow theatrical release
Films selected for roadshow treatment were typically longer than the usual motion picture, lasting from slightly more than two hours to four hours or more, counting the intermission.
Roadshow theatrical release
During games in November 2008, a video of current players singing the song (rather poorly in most cases) was shown during the second intermission.
Here Come the Hawks

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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