interns

IPA/ˈɪn.tɜːn/
KK[ˈɪntɚnz]IPA/ˈɪn.tɝːn/

interns — noun

  • internssingular
  • internsesplural

1. A person, often a student or recent graduate, who takes a short-term job at a bu

1.nounB1
Definition

A person, often a student or recent graduate, who takes a short-term job at a business or nonprofit, sometimes unpaid, so they can learn new skills and get to know a field of work.

Example

Antonia applied for a summer intern position at a fashion magazine in Paris.

collocation: summer intern; intern position

The marketing team hired three interns to help with the product launch.

Common collocations
  • summer intern
  • paid intern
  • unpaid intern
  • intern position
  • intern programme
  • internship application
Synonyms
  • trainee

    broader — any person learning on the job, not necessarily temporary or early-career

  • apprentice

    formal multi-year programme in a skilled trade (e.g. electrician), nearly always paid

  • volunteer

    works without pay for a cause or charity, without the career-training focus of an intern

Usage Note

Distinguish from noun/2 (MEDICAL TRAINEE), which refers specifically to a first-year hospital doctor. This sense covers all other fields — business, law, media, technology, and nonprofits.

Common Mistakes

I am doing an intern at the bank.
I am working as an intern at the bank.
You do an internship, or you work as an intern. 'Intern' is the person, not the activity.

2. A doctor who has finished medical school and is doing their first year of superv

2.nounB2
Definition

A doctor who has finished medical school and is doing their first year of supervised work in a hospital.

Example

Jenna started her first shift as an intern at St. Mary's Hospital last Monday.

as an intern + at [hospital name]

The intern checked the patient's blood pressure three times during the night.

typical object: patient's vitals (blood pressure, pulse)

Common collocations
  • medical intern
  • surgical intern
  • new intern
  • junior intern
  • intern year
Synonyms
  • trainee doctor

    broader term — any doctor still in training, not just first-year

  • houseman

    British term for the same first-year hospital role

  • resident

    the stage after intern — a doctor who has finished the first year but is still in specialty training

Usage Note

In the US, an intern is specifically a first-year doctor after medical school. In the UK, the same role was traditionally called a houseman. This sense is distinct from the general trainee sense (noun/1).

Common Mistakes

She is a resident at the hospital' (when she just started).
She is an intern at the hospital.
A resident has already completed the intern year; an intern is in the very first year of postgraduate training.

interns — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

An intern is typically a student or recent graduate doing temporary work to gain experience in a professional field. A trainee is a broader term — anyone learning a job, whether a new hire or a student, and the training is usually structured by the employer. An apprentice learns a skilled trade (like plumbing or carpentry) through a formal multi-year programme that mixes work and classroom study; apprentices are nearly always paid. A volunteer gives their time freely for a cause or charity, without the career-building focus that defines an internship. A temp (temporary worker) is hired to fill a short-term staffing gap and is paid for the work itself, not primarily there to learn. The key difference: interns are there to learn first; temps are there to work first.

trainee ↗apprentice ↗volunteer ↗temp ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • work as an intern
  • summer intern

Prepositions

  • intern at
  • intern for

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Both the noun and verb senses of intern trace back to the Latin word internus, meaning 'inward' or 'internal.' The medical noun entered English in the late 19th century from French interne, which referred to a doctor living inside the hospital. The verb meaning 'to confine' developed separately from French interner — literally 'to send inland' — and gained its modern political meaning during the two World Wars, when governments confined enemy nationals and dissidents in remote camps.

First known use

1879

1879, in the meaning defined above Verb (1)