Interior

How to spell interior

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce interior

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does interior mean?

1. nounThe inside part of something, especially the inner space of a building, room, or vehicle.
2. adjectiveSituated within or relating to the inside of something.

Interior in a sentence

• noun

  The interior of the old church was cool and dim.

• adjective

  The interior walls were finished in soft grey plaster.

• noun

  They repainted the interior of the house before moving in.

• adjective

  An interior courtyard let light into the centre of the building.

Where does interior come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes directly from the Latin interior, meaning 'more within' or 'inner'. It is the comparative form of the Latin adverb and preposition inter, meaning 'between' or 'among', so the literal sense was 'the more inward part'. English adopted it in the late 1400s, at first describing the inner nature or inland regions of something, and later settling into its familiar architectural sense of the inside of a building or room. The same inter root sits inside everyday words like 'internal', 'intern', and 'interval', all sharing the idea of something situated within. The spelling trap is the ending: it closes with -ior, not -ier, because it preserves that old Latin comparative form rather than a more typical English suffix.

How the word is built

• inter- (within, inside)
• -ior (comparative suffix: more inward)