Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INTERMITTENT
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pronounce
INTERMITTENT:
Say it "IN tur MITT unt."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Once you start poking around inside English words, hunting for Latin ghosts, you can't stop.
Here's a ghost we spot all the time: mittere, "to put, to place, to send, to release, to let go." It shows up in today's word, intermittent, which we could define literally as "sending in between."
As I've mentioned before, we also see mittere in words like mission, admit, commit, permit, transmit, _mit ("to send out"), m___mit ("to set free"), and, my favorite on this list: mis__e__p___, "a putting into place: the idea, habit, or process of having everything in place, ready to be used."
See if you can catch a glimpse of mittere in more English words today. Happy hunting!
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
The word "intermit" has Latin roots that literally mean "to send in between."
When something intermits, it stops for a while, as if it's taking a break: "His pain intermitted;" "The rains intermitted." And when you intermit something, you stop it for a while, or put it on pause.
But we hardly ever use that verb, "intermit."
We do use the noun a lot: "intermission," meaning "a break, or a pause." We often talk about the intermission during a show: you watch Act I, go get a snack during intermission, then come back for Act II.
Turn "intermit" or "intermission" into an adjective, and you get "intermittent," which describes things that pause and then keep going. In other words, intermittent things are the kind that keep stopping and starting again and again.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "my intermittent attempts to exercise;" "his fever was intermittent."
Other forms:
The ones we use a lot are "intermittently" and "intermission(s)."
how to use it:
When you need a more formal, more serious word for "on-and-of" or "stopping and going," pick "intermittent."
You might talk about intermittent phenomena: things that come and go on their own, or stop and start on their own. Like intermittent rains, or intermittent pains or fevers, or an intermittent Internet connection.
Or, you might talk about intermittent things that people do: intermittent attempts to exercise, intermittent dieting or fasting, intermittent bursts of interest in hobbies or goals, etc.
examples:
"We sat and drank our tea in total silence, except for the intermittent sound of slurping."
— Adib Khorram, Darius the Great Is Not Okay, 2018
"Dr. Coburn saw himself as a contrarian who wore his intermittent unpopularity as a badge of honor and grew irascible when others tried to convince him that party loyalty trumped his core beliefs."
— Adam Bernstein, Washington Post, 28 March 2020
has this page helped you understand "intermittent"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "intermittent" without saying "recurrent" or "discontinuous."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "With only intermittent access to (some resource), (someone) (did the best they could in some way)."
Example: "With only intermittent access to candlelight and a flat surface, he wrote his novel."
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is "Polygon of Predestination!"
With a high five to TheWordFinder.com for its puzzle generator, I'm Pat-Sajacking that spin-the-wheel game from TV. Apply your alliterative acumen to solve the puzzle. The category all month long is: "Beastly Blunders and Criminal Capers."
From the previous issue:
Even amid the popularity of the crime drama Breaking Bad, the origins of that phrase remain murky: no major dictionaries list it. Online dictionaries note that it's simply American southern slang. I wish I could share more, but I'd be breaking into the bad, bad world of speculative etymology.
Try this one today:
Not sure yet? Need to see a bit more? Click here.
review this word:
A. EXTERNAL.
B. HANDS-OFF.
C. CONTINUOUS.
2. They're intermittent workers: employed _____.
A. immediately in a crisis
B. only when the crops are ready for harvest
C. as ski teachers in winter and golf teachers the rest of the year
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Once you start poking around inside English words, hunting for Latin ghosts, you can't stop.
The word "intermit" has Latin roots that literally mean "to send in between."
Part of speech:
When you need a more formal, more serious word for "on-and-of" or "stopping and going," pick "intermittent."
"We sat and drank our tea in total silence, except for the intermittent sound of slurping."
Explain the meaning of "intermittent" without saying "recurrent" or "discontinuous."
Fill in the blanks: "With only intermittent access to (some resource), (someone) (did the best they could in some way)."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
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