intersect

[in-ter-sekt]

verb (used with object)

1. to cut or divide by passing through or across.

   The highway intersects the town.

verb (used without object)

1. to cross, as lines or wires.

2. Geometry.,  to have one or more points in common.

   intersecting lines.

intersect

/ ˌɪntəˈsɛkt /

verb

1. to divide, cut, or mark off by passing through or across

2. (esp of roads) to cross (each other)

3. maths (often foll by with) to have one or more points in common (with another configuration)

Other Word Forms

• nonintersecting adjective
• self-intersecting adjective
• unintersected adjective
• unintersecting adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of intersect¹

1605–15; < Latin intersectus, past participle of intersecāre “to cut through, sever”; inter- ( def. ), -sect ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of intersect¹

C17: from Latin intersecāre to divide, from _inter- + secāre to cut

Example Sentences

They’ve been around; they have worn edges, and when they intersect, it generates something authentically sweet, as real as the rest of the series is improbable.

From Los Angeles Times

At the time, Apple said that if the government’s lawsuit was successful, it would hurt its ability to create the type of technology people expect from Apple “where hardware, software, and services intersect.”

From Los Angeles Times

Here, Lanthimos lampoons hypocritical executives and well-meaning radicals, surveying the damage that can be done by both parties when they intersect in his typically stylistic manner.

From Salon

Subsequent reporting continued to explore how reality television intersects with health, fitness and societal expectations.

From Salon

Still, the line between metaphor and mandate can blur, especially when rhetoric about “dominion” intersects with political and cultural action.

From Salon

Related Words

• converge 
• cross