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intersect

/ˌɪntərˈsekt//ˌɪntəˈsekt/·verb
to cross at a point and continue; to have a point or area in common
Fig. 1 — I watch a car come along the flat road and another drop down the road that crosses it.
01Definition

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.

02In use
  • 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.
  • iiiHer research intersects with public health wherever access to clean water is studied.
03Collocations
  • intersect at a point
  • lines intersect
  • intersect with
  • the point of intersection
  • roads intersect

Family intersection (noun) · intersecting (adjective)

04Relations

=cross, meet, converge, overlap, traverse

≠diverge, run parallel

05Compared
PairThe difference
intersect vs amalgamateseveral things merged into one body → amalgamate; two paths crossing at a shared point and continuing on → intersect.
intersect vs blendmix several things into one seamless whole → blend; have two paths cross at a shared point and continue → intersect.
intersect vs coalesceseparate things grow together into one whole → coalesce; two paths cross at a shared point and continue → intersect.
intersect vs coincidetwo things fall on exactly the same point, line or time (overlap) → coincide; two paths cross at one point and continue → intersect.
intersect vs concentrategather many things to one point, making them denser → concentrate; have two paths cross at a shared point and continue → intersect.

Also compared with converge, disperse, dissipate, diverge, divide, fuse, meet, merge, radiate, scatter, separate, split

06TOEFL & IELTS

Keep the verb and noun straight: things intersect (verb), and the place they cross is an intersection (noun) — there is no 'an intersect'. Do not confuse it with intercept (to cut something off in transit, or where a line crosses an axis: the x-intercept). The tell: intersect is line-meets-line, intercept is line-meets-axis. In academic writing the figurative 'X intersects with Y' — where two fields or interests overlap — is precise and valued.

07Asked
What is the difference between 'intersect' and 'intersection'?
Intersect is the verb — the action of crossing ('the two roads intersect'). Intersection is the noun — the place or point where they cross, and in American English the road junction itself. You cannot write 'an intersect'; the thing is an intersection. Same root, different jobs: one names the action, the other the result.
What is the difference between 'intersect' and 'intercept'?
To intersect is for two things to cross each other — mutual, and both carry on. To intercept is to cut something off in transit (intercept a pass, a message), or, in maths, the point where a line crosses an axis (the y-intercept). The quick tell: intersect is line meeting line; intercept is line meeting an axis, or one thing stopping another.
What is the point where two lines intersect called?
The point of intersection — the single spot two lines share, like the junction in the scene above. Two straight lines that are not parallel intersect at exactly one point; parallel lines never intersect at all. In coordinate geometry it is where their equations give the same x and y.
Is it 'intersect' or 'intersect with'?
Both are correct. 'The two roads intersect' and 'the road intersects with the highway' are equally fine, and the with-form is especially common in the figurative sense — 'his work intersects with economics'. What you cannot say is 'intersect to'. When two things cross each other equally, you can drop the with; when one meets another, with reads naturally.
What does intersect mean in maths (sets)?
For two sets, to intersect is to have members in common — their intersection (written A ∩ B) is the collection of elements that belong to both. If the sets share nothing, their intersection is empty. In geometry the same word means curves crossing; in both, it is about what two things hold jointly.
What does it mean when two things intersect figuratively?
That two areas, interests, or identities overlap — 'where art intersects with commerce', 'their careers intersected briefly'. It is a favourite of academic writing because it names a genuine overlap without claiming one thing caused the other. (The sociology term intersectionality grew from this traffic-junction image, but that is a topic in its own right.)