interact

To act upon each other.

Noun

  1. A short act or piece between others, as in a play; a break between acts.
    • 1912, William Archer, London: Chapman & Hall, Chapter 8, pp. 108-109, […] the flight of time is best indicated by an interact. When the curtain is down, the action on the stage remains, as it were, in suspense. The...
    • The play gives detailed descriptions of the instruments used in the interact music […] - 1980, Mary Chan, Music in the Theatre of Ben Jonson, Oxford: Clarendon, Part 1, Chapter 1, p. 15:

    Synonyms: interlude entracte intermission

  2. Intermediate employment or time.
    • 1750, Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, Letters Written […] to His Son, London: P. Dodsley, 10th edition, 1792, Volume 2, Letter 219, p. 344, Play, in good company, is only play, and not gaming; not deep, and...
  3. A pair or series of acts involving more than one person.
    • Inasmuch as it is impossible to analyze the contents of an entire interpersonal relationship, it is helpful to conceptualize a given communication event as consisting of a series of subevents. Any one subevent may be...
    • As they listened to groups communicate, Fisher and his coworkers noted what each group member said (labeled a speech act) and how the next person responded. This pairing of speech acts is called an interact. - 1991,...

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Italic *n̥ter Latin inter Latin inter-bor. English inter- Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin ācta Old French actbor. Middle English acte English act English interact From inter- + act.

Forms

interacts

Related

interactable interactant interactee interaction interactive interactome interactor

Verb

  1. To act upon each other.
    • The way staff interact with each other during breaks can play an important role in the workplace.
    1. (of people) To engage in communication and other shared activities (with someone).

    2. (of two or more things) To affect each other.

      • This medication can interact with alcohol, so it's best to avoid drinking while you're taking it.
      • The fortunes of the master and the servant, intimately interacting, rose together. The Baron’s secret skill had given Leopold his unexceptionable kingdom; and Leopold, in his turn, as time went on, was able to furnish...
      • It is now known that many pairs of organic phosphate insecticides are highly dangerous, the toxicity being stepped up or “potentiated” through the combined action. […] Residues well within the legally permissible limits...

Forms

interacts interacting interacted

Derived

interactability interactment interact with misinteract