Internal

How to spell internal

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce internal

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does internal mean?

1. adjectiveExisting or happening inside something, such as a body, an object, a country, or an organisation.

Internal in a sentence

• The doctor ordered scans to check for internal bleeding.

• The company launched an internal review of its hiring practices.

Where does internal come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin internus, meaning 'inward' or 'on the inside', which itself grew out of the preposition inter, meaning 'between' or 'within'. Medieval Latin formed the adjective internalis, and English adopted it in the fifteenth century to describe anything situated or happening inside a body, structure, or organisation. Early use leaned heavily on anatomy and medicine, describing the inner parts of the body, before the word broadened to cover matters confined within a household, a company, or a country. The same inter root sits inside everyday words such as 'interior', 'intern', and 'internal' itself, all pointing toward an inside or an in-between space. Because the spelling marches straight through inter plus nal with no hidden letters, the main thing to remember is the single n and the plain -al ending rather than -el.

How the word is built

• intern- (from Latin internus: inward, inner)
• -al (adjective suffix)