Intersect and meet both describe paths coming to a shared point, but they part ways after it. To intersect is for two lines or paths to cross at a point and each carry on past it, then diverge again (two roads intersect at a junction). To meet is for separate things to come together at a point — and they often stop there, or join and go on as one (two roads meet at a bridge and run on together). Intersecting lines cross and continue separately; meeting paths arrive and may stay joined.
This is the one genuine near-synonym in the group, and geometry students search it often. Both bring two paths to a single point. The difference is what follows. Intersect, from inter- ('between') and secare ('to cut'), means the lines cross and each keeps going past the point, diverging beyond it. Meet, from the Old English metan, means they arrive at the point — and typically stop there or continue together as one. So two roads intersect and traffic flows through in all directions; two roads meet and become one road on. Crossing-and-continuing versus arriving-and-joining is the whole distinction.
intersect
To intersect is for two lines, roads, or paths to cross each other at a point and carry on past it — from the Latin inter- 'between' and secare 'to cut', literally to cut between. Where roads intersect there is a junction; where two sets intersect there are the members they share. The word runs figuratively too: two fields of study intersect where their concerns overlap. Unlike paths that meet and stop, intersecting lines cross and keep going, then diverge again beyond the point.
meet
To meet is for separate things to come together at one place or moment — two roads meet, old friends meet, a river meets the sea. From the Old English mētan, it has always carried this coming-together, but its real academic value is abstract: to meet a deadline, a target, or a demand is to be enough for it, to rise to what is asked. Where independent paths converge on the same point, they meet — and from that point they may go on together.
| intersect | meet | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | cross at a point and carry on | come together at a point |
| After the point | each continues, then diverges | they stop, or join and go on |
| The lines | stay two, crossing | may become one |
| Typical of | roads, lines, sets, fields | roads, rivers, people, demand |
| Often with | intersect at · intersect with | meet at · meet with |
| Noun | intersection | meeting / meeting point |
Watch what happens after the point. Intersect is two cars crossing at a junction — they share one square of ground, then each drives on its own way and they part again. Meet is two roads reaching the same junction and becoming one road on, the travellers going forward together. So intersecting paths cross and continue separately; meeting paths arrive and may join. If two lines cross and keep their own headings, they intersect; if they come together and go on as one, they meet.
intersect
- iTwo straight roads intersect at the town square, and each stream of traffic continues out the far side.
- iiOnce two paths intersect, they diverge again and may never cross a second time.
- iiiWhere the two circles intersect, the overlap marks the shared solutions.
meet
- iTwo winding roads meet at the old stone bridge and run on as one.
- iiThe two rivers meet just below the falls and flow on together.
- iiiWe agreed to meet outside the library at noon.
In maths the distinction is exact: lines intersect at a point and continue in both directions, while a walker meets another and they may stop or proceed together. In everyday speech they blur — 'where the roads meet' and 'where the roads intersect' can both name a junction — but keep the tell: intersect stresses crossing and continuing, meet stresses arriving (and possibly joining). Keep intersect apart from intercept (to cut off in transit).
Precise in geometry and useful in figurative academic writing. In maths, lines intersect at a point (the point of intersection) and continue past it, while curves or a walker meet — say intersect when the crossing and continuation matter. Figuratively, fields intersect where their concerns overlap without merging, while interests meet when they come together; and note meet's exam-gold abstract sense (meet a deadline, meet demand), which intersect does not share. Keep intersect apart from intercept.