interface

(ĭn'tər-fās')
n.

1. A surface forming a common boundary between adjacent regions, bodies, substances, or phases.
2. A point at which independent systems or diverse groups interact: "the interface between crime and politics where much of our reality is to be found" (Jack Kroll).
3. Computer Science.
   1. The point of interaction or communication between a computer and any other entity, such as a printer or human operator.
   2. The layout of an application's graphic or textual controls in conjunction with the way the application responds to user activity: an interface whose icons were hard to remember.

v., -faced, -fac·ing, -fac·es. (ĭn'tər-fās')

v.tr.

1. To join by means of an interface.
2. To serve as an interface for.

v.intr.

1. To serve as an interface or become interfaced.
2. To interact or coordinate smoothly: "Theatergoers were lured out of their seats and interfaced with the scenery" (New York Times).

interfacial in'ter·fa'cial adj.

USAGE NOTE   The noun interface has been around since the 1880s, meaning "a surface forming a common boundary, as between bodies or regions." But the word did not really take off until the 1960s, when it began to be used in the computer industry to designate the point of interaction between a computer and another system, such as a printer. The word was applied to other interactions as well-between departments in an organization, for example, or between fields of study. Shortly thereafter interface developed a use as a verb, but it never really caught on outside its niche in the computer world, where it still thrives. The Usage Panel has been unable to muster much enthusiasm for the verb. Thirty-seven percent of Panelists accept it when it designates the interaction between people in the sentence The managing editor must interface with a variety of freelance editors and proofreaders. But the percentage drops to 22 when the interaction is between a corporation and the public or between various communities in a city. Many Panelists complain that interface is pretentious and jargony. Certainly, it has no shortage of acceptable synonyms; cooperate, deal, exchange information, interact, and work present themselves as ready substitutes.

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The use of this word was transformed between the publication of the original Old English (up to 1150)D entry in 1901 and that of the updated entry in Old English (up to 1150)D2 in 1989. To the earlier editors it meant simply 'a surface lying between two portions of matter or space, and forming their common boundary'. In the 1960s, two disciplines adopted it for their own special use and effectively rivalled each other in their efforts to propel it into vogue use: the computer industry and that special branch of sociology known as communications theory, represented especially by the Canadian critic and theorist Marshall MacLuhan (The Gutenberg Galaxy, 1962). Now, an interface was, on the one hand, 'an apparatus designed to connect two scientific instruments, devices, etc., so that they can be operated jointly' and, on the other, 'a point where interaction occurs between two systems, processes, subjects, etc'. Its vogue status was assured when it was applied ever more widely to the relations between business development and marketing systems, lecturers and students, unions and management, and other areas of public life:

The issue of insanity as a defense in criminal cases...is at the interface of medicine, law and ethics—Scientific American, 1972.

McLuhan was also responsible for the first use of interface as a verb, meaning 'to come into interaction with', first recorded in 1967, and a corresponding use in computing and electronic technology soon followed. There are signs that the onslaught from this word has abated somewhat, leaving it to be used more effectively in technical domains. This is fortunate, when more familiar (and usually more precise) alternatives, such as (for the noun) boundary, contact, link, liaison, meeting point, interaction, and (for the verb) communicate, have contact with, interact, are readily available to cater for the general meanings. The popular press, however, still embraces the word when writing about gadgets:

The principle might work well on the current generation of 'smart' mobile phones, but interfacing with the interface is much easier when you're walking down the street than flying down the motorway—Hull Daily Mail, 2007.

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The connection and interaction between hardware, software and the user. Users "talk to" the software. The software "talks to" the hardware and other software. Hardware "talks to" other hardware. All this is interfacing. It has to be designed, developed, tested and redesigned; and with each incarnation, a new specification is born that may become yet one more de facto or regulated standard.

Hardware Interfaces

Hardware interfaces are the plugs, sockets, cables and electrical signals traveling through them. Examples are USB, FireWire, Ethernet, ATA/IDE, SCSI and PCI.

Software/Programming Interfaces

Software interfaces (programming interfaces) are the languages, codes and messages that programs use to communicate with each other and to the hardware. Examples are the Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems, SMTP e-mail, IP network protocols and the software drivers that activate the peripheral devices.

User Interfaces

User interfaces are the keyboards, mice, commands and menus used for communication between you and the computer. Examples are the command lines in DOS and Unix, and the graphical interfaces in Windows, Mac and Linux.

Format & Function

Every interface implies a structure. Electrical signals are made up of voltage levels, frequencies and duration. The data passed from one device or program to another has a precise format (header, body, trailer, etc.).

Every interface implies a function. At the hardware level, electronic signals activate functions; data are read, written, transmitted, received, checked for error, etc. At the software level, instructions activate the hardware (access methods, data link protocols, etc.). At higher levels, the data transferred or transmitted may itself request functions to be performed (client/server, program to program, etc.).

Language & Programming

An interface is activated by programming language commands. The complexity of the functions and the design of the language determine how difficult it is to program.

User Interface, Protocol, API and ABI

The design of the interaction between the user and the computer is called a "user interface." The rules, formats and functions between components in a communications system or network are called "protocols." The language and message formats between routines within a program or between software components is called an "application programming interface" (API). The specification for an operating system working in a specific machine environment has been known as an "application binary interface" (ABI), but this term is not widely used.

All the above interactions are interfaces. Regardless of what they are called, they all create rules that must be precisely followed in a digital world.

A Whole Lot of Talking To

No matter what they're called, interfaces boil down to a format and language that defines the services one system is capable of delivering to another.

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In computer terminology, means of interaction between two devices or systems that handle data (e.g., formats or codes) differently.
Basically, an interface is a device that converts signals from one device into signals that the other device needs. There are printers with parallel interfaces, with serial interfaces, or with both types of interfaces. A common parallel interface is the Centronics Interface, which is used to send data to a printer. The RS 232 is a serial interface.
A serial interface is used with a modem when data have to be sent to distant locations, usually over telephone lines. A parallel interface is usually used with a printer because the microcomputer and the printer are close to each other. Interfaces are also utilized between the microcomputer and the disk drives.

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The zone of interaction between two systems or processes. Estuaries might be seen as the interface between fluvial and marine systems.

The common boundary, often a plane surface, between two bodies or materials.

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(DOD) A boundary or point common to two or more similar or dissimilar command and control systems, sub-systems, or other entities against which or at which necessary information flow takes place.

1. any surface forming a common boundary between two bodies, molecules, liquids, or phases.
2. any device, instrument, or method connecting two systems or processes; used especially of connections between computer systems.
3. to connect with or by an interface (def. 2).

—interfacial adj.

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The point where two systems or structures meet.

• chemical i. — the boundary between two chemical systems or phases.
• i. dermatitis — skin disease with histopathological changes, either hydropic degeneration or lichenoid cellular infiltrate or both, involving dermoepidermal junction.
• ecological i. — the boundary between ecosystems.
• hydropic i. — a type of interface dermatitis in which the main lesion at the dermoepidermal junction is hydropic degeneration.
• lichenoid i. — a type of interface dermatitis in which the main lesion at the dermoepidermal junction is like lichen.

(in'turfās)
n

The surface, such as a plane surface, formed between the walls of a prepared cavity or extracoronal preparation and a restoration. It forms a common boundary between the tooth structure and the restorative material.

For a list of words related to interface, see:

• Substances, Particles, and Atomic Architecture - interface: area of contact between physical states of a substance (solid/liquid, liquid/gas) or between different substances
• Data Transmission - interface: meeting place of systems and means by which communication occurs there
• General Technology - interface: hardware and/or software required to connect peripheral to computer system, one computer system to another, or for user’s access to system; point at which any two parts of system connect
• Order, Hierarchy, and Systems - interface: point at which independent systems meet and interact

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See words rhyming with "interface."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Interface.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - interface, grænseflade
v. tr. - forbinde via interface
v. intr. - forbindes via interface

Nederlands (Dutch)
raakvlak, koppeling, koppelen, samenwerken, interface (op computerscherm)

Français (French)
n. - (Comput, fig) interface (entre, avec), jonction (entre, avec)
v. tr. - (Tech) connecter, relier, entoiler
v. intr. - se connecter (à, avec)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Grenzfläche, Schnittstelle, Interface, Anpaßschaltung
v. - anschließen, koppeln

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (Η/Υ) διασύνδεση, διασυνδετική διάταξη, κν. σύνδεση, (μηχαν.) διεπιφάνεια
v. - συμπίπτω (ως προς τις αντιλήψεις), συνδέω/-ομαι άμεσα

Italiano (Italian)
interfaccia, interfacciarsi

Português (Portuguese)
n. - interface (f)
v. - conectar por meio de uma interface

Русский (Russian)
граница раздела, область контакта, поверхность раздела, устройство сопряжения

Español (Spanish)
n. - interfaz, superficie de contacto, enlace, interconexión
v. tr. - conectarse, relacionarse
v. intr. - conectarse, relacionarse

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - gränsyta (fys.), beröringspunkt (bildl.), samspel, kontakt, förbindelselänk, interface, kabel, gränssnitt (data)
v. - passa ihop, bringa i kontakt, samordna, växelverka

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
界面, 分界面, 接口, 接合部, 连系装置, 使联系, 使结合, 使互相作用, 使互相配合作用, 联系, 结合, 互相作用, 互相配合作用

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 界面, 分界面, 接口, 接合部, 連繫裝置
v. tr. - 使聯繫, 使結合, 使互相作用, 使互相配合作用
v. intr. - 聯繫, 結合, 互相作用, 互相配合作用

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 경계면, (CPU와 단말 장치와의 연결부분을 이루는 회로)인터페이스, 공유 부분
v. tr. - ~을 잇다, 조화시키다, 인터페이스로 접속하다
v. intr. - 결부하다, 조화하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 中間面, 界面
v. - 間に芯を縫い込む, インターフェースで連続する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) السطح البيني : السطح بين جسمين أو شيئين (فعل) يربط جسمين أو شيئين بسطح مشترك‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮נקודת השקה, מנשק (ממשק), מגשר, "פליזלין", ביטנה פנימית (להוסיף קשיחות/צורה)‬
v. tr. - ‮חיבר למכשיר אחר באמצעות מגשר‬
v. intr. - ‮חיבר למכשיר אחר באמצעות מגשר, פעלו/השפיעו זה על זה‬

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