Definition
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.
Examples
- Two straight roads intersect at the town square, and each stream of traffic continues out the far side.
- Once two paths intersect, they diverge again and may never cross a second time.
- Her research intersects with public health wherever access to clean water is studied.
Collocations
intersect at a point· lines intersect· intersect with· the point of intersection· roads intersect
Synonyms
Antonyms
diverge· run parallel
Word family
intersection (noun)· intersecting (adjective)
In TOEFL & 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.
FAQ
- 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.)