interstate
interstate Lexical Profile
interstate Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
American Existing, occurring, or carried on between two or more states, especially within the United States or Australia.
"The federal government holds constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce and transportation."
• noun
American One of a system of major limited-access highways connecting principal cities and regions across the United States.
"We took the interstate to bypass the downtown traffic and reach the neighboring state much faster."
Word Nuance & Usage
Frequently confused with 'intrastate'; 'interstate' refers to commerce, travel, or relations between two or more different states, whereas 'intrastate' refers to activity occurring entirely within the borders of a single state.
• Rhymes for interstate
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in the mid-19th century in American English, formed from the Latin prefix 'inter-' (meaning 'between' or 'among') and the noun 'state'. The noun sense referring to a major highway emerged in the 1950s following the creation of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.