interstitial

I1N1T1E1R1S1T1I1T1I1A1L1
UK/ɪntəˈstɪʃəl/US/ɪntəɹˈstɪʃəl/

adjective

Of, relating to, or situated in an interstice.

“The novel's interstitial chapters.”

Less commonScrabble 12

Meanings

adjectiveinterstitial (not comparable)
  1. not comparableOf, relating to, or situated in an interstice.

    The novel's interstitial chapters.

    4 more examples

    The outer surface is covered with variable amounts of dental plaque and saliva. The inner surface is bathed in interstitial fluid or lymph.

    1965, Jerome F. Fredrick, Murray L. Schole, Mechanisms of Dental Caries, page 761

    That he ran the risk of blowing out the stained-glass windows was of no consequence since no one liked them anyway, and the paper mill fumes were gnawing at the interstitial lead.

    1999, Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

    The interstitial fluid is located between cells and the capillaries. This fluid provides a bridge between the fluid in the intravascular compartment and the intracellular compartment. Chemicals in the blood must pass through the interstitial fluid if they are to reach cells.

    2011, Chris Mulryan, Acute Illness Management, page 27

    Whitney is absorbed especially by Dublin's unglamorous interstitial zones: the new housing estates and labyrinths of roads, watercourses and railways where the city peters into its commuter belt.

    2014 August 23, Neil Hegarty, “Hidden City: Adventures and Explorations in Dublin by Karl Whitney, review: 'a necessary corrective' [print version: Re-Joycing in Dublin, p. R25]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)
nouninterstitial (plural interstitials)

plural interstitials

  1. InternetadvertisingA web page, usually carrying advertising, displayed when leaving one content page for another.

    An interstitial appeared before the download.

    1 more example

    Interstitials should be used sparingly. Display an ad only the first time the user accesses a piece of content, not every time.

    2007, Barbara Ballard, Designing the Mobile User Experience, page 126
  2. natural sciencesAn interstitial discontinuity in a crystal.
    1 more example

    2008, E. G. Seebauer et al., Defect Engineering for Ultrashallow Junctions using Surfaces, in P. J. Timans, E. P. Gusev, H. Iwai, D.-L. Kwong, M. C. Öztürk, F. Roozeboom (editors), Advanced Gate Stack, Source/Drain, and Channel Engineering for Si-Based CMOS 4: New Materials, Processes, and Equipment, ECS Transactions: Volume 13, Issue 1, page 56, The second mechanism, which is the primary focus of the present paper, involves insertion of interstitials into dangling bonds at the surface.

Origin

  1. Latininterstitiālis
  2. Englishinterstitial

From Latin interstitiālis. By surface analysis, interstitium + -al.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan intersticial
  • intersticialof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
Chinese Mandarin 間質 /间质
  • 間質 /间质 (jiānzhí)of, relating to, or situated in an interstice
Dutch met betrekking tot een tussenruimte, tussenliggend
  • met betrekking tot een tussenruimteof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • tussenliggendof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • interstitieelof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • interstitieelinterstitial discontinuity in a crystal
Finnish väli-, rako-
  • väli-of, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • rako-of, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • väli-ikkunaweb page displayed before a content page
  • välisijavirheinterstitial discontinuity in a crystal
French interstitiel, publicité interstitielle
  • interstitielof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • publicité interstitielleweb page displayed before a content page
German Zwischen-, zwischenliegend
  • Zwischen-of, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • zwischenliegendof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • Interstitialweb page displayed before a content page
  • Interstitialinterstitial discontinuity in a crystal
  • Zwischengitteratominterstitial discontinuity in a crystal
Italian interstiziale
  • interstizialeof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
Polish śródmiąższowy, interstycjalny
  • śródmiąższowyof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • interstycjalnyof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • interstitialweb page displayed before a content page
  • atom międzywęzłowyinterstitial discontinuity in a crystal
Portuguese intersticial, anúncio intersticial
  • intersticialof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • anúncio intersticialweb page displayed before a content page
  • interstíciointerstitial discontinuity in a crystal
Romanian interstițial
  • interstițialof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
Russian промежу́точный, щели́стый
  • промежу́точный (promežútočnyj)of, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • щели́стый (ščelístyj)of, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • внутритка́невый (vnutritkánevyj)of, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • вста́вка (vstávka)web page displayed before a content page
  • междоу́злие (meždoúzlije)interstitial discontinuity in a crystal
Spanish intersticial, intersticial
  • intersticialof, relating to, or situated in an interstice
  • intersticialinterstitial discontinuity in a crystal

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with interstitial

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

interstitial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interstitial

MLA

“interstitial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interstitial. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “interstitial,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interstitial.

Source: interstitial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.