Home / Dictionary / Internal

Internal Very Common

Origin: Latin suffix -al

Internal has 7 different meanings across 1 category:

Adjective

Definitions
Adjective
1

happening or arising or located within some limits or especially surface

"internal organs"

"internal mechanism of a toy"

"internal party maneuvering"

2

occurring within an institution or community

"intragroup squabbling within the corporation"

3

inside the country

"the British Home Office has broader responsibilities than the United States Department of the Interior"

"the nation's internal politics"

4

located inward

"Beethoven's manuscript looks like a bloody record of a tremendous inner battle"

"she thinks she has no soul, no interior life, but the truth is that she has no access to it"

"an internal sense of rightousness"

5

innermost or essential

"the inner logic of Cubism"

"the internal contradictions of the theory"

"the intimate structure of matter"

6

Of or situated on the inside.

"The surgeon carefully checked for any internal injuries after the car accident."

7

Within the body.

"The doctor examined her internal organs after she complained of sudden abdominal pain."

In plain English: Internal means something that is inside or happening within a person or thing rather than on the outside.

"The internal controls at the company are designed to prevent financial fraud."

Usage: Use internal to describe something located within the boundaries of an object, organization, or system rather than outside it. It is appropriate when referring to internal organs, internal affairs, or internal components that function as part of a whole.

Example Sentences
"The internal controls at the company are designed to prevent financial fraud." adj
"The internal clock in your body tells you when to sleep and wake up." adj
"She felt an internal pressure that forced her to make a difficult decision." adj
"Most modern smartphones have an internal battery that lasts for several hours on a single charge." adj
See Also
inside tax bone x ray scriptol giblets interface end
Related Terms
inside tax bone x ray scriptol giblets interface end lemierre's syndrome endodormancy mangle ribbon cable cuttlefish non public incretion cuttlefish bone exitron redline branch stacking crista
Antonyms
external

Origin

The word "internal" comes from Middle English via New Latin, where it originally meant "of or pertaining to the inner part." It entered English as a direct borrowing from the Latin term internālis, which combined the root for "inward" with an adjectival suffix.

Rhyming Words
nal unal anal enal binal ianal fanal genal penal conal winal final monal manal gonal dunal zonal venal banal tonal
Compare
Internal vs