- To come, appear, or lie between two things: You can't see the lake from there because the house intervenes.
- To come or occur between two periods or points of time: A year intervened between the two dynasties.
- To occur as an extraneous or unplanned circumstance: He would have his degree by now if his laziness hadn't intervened.
- To involve oneself in a situation so as to alter or hinder an action or development: “Every gardener faces choices about how and how much to intervene in nature's processes” (Dora Galitzki).
- To interfere, usually through force or threat of force, in the affairs of another nation.
- Law. To enter into a suit as a third party for one's own interests.
[Latin intervenīre : inter-, inter- + venīre, to come.]
intervenor in'ter·ve'nor or in'ter·ven'er n.intervention in'ter·ven'tion (-vĕn'shən) n.
interventional in'ter·ven'tion·al adj.




