intercultural

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *-tér

Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥tér

Proto-Italic *n̥ter

Latin inter

Latin inter-bor.

English inter-

Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *kʷélh₁eti

Proto-Italic *kʷelō

Latin colō

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-?

Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂?

Latin -tūra

Latin cultūrader.

Middle French cultureder.

English culture

English -al

English cultural

English intercultural

From inter- + cultural.

Adjective

intercultural (comparative more intercultural, superlative most intercultural)

1. of, relating to, or between different cultures

Derived terms

• interculturalism
• interculturalist
• interculturality
• interculturalize
• interculturally

Related terms

• cross-cultural

Translations

between different cultures

• Azerbaijani: mədəniyyətlərarası
• Catalan: intercultural
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不同文化間的 / 不同文化间的 (bùtóng wénhuà jiān de), 跨文化的 (kuà wénhuà de)

• Dutch: intercultureel (nl)
• Finnish: kulttuurienvälinen, poikkikulttuurinen
• French: interculturel (fr)
• German: interkulturell (de)
• Japanese: 異文化の (いぶんかの, ibunka no)
• Kazakh: мәдениетаралық (mädeniyetaralıq)
• Polish: międzykulturowy
• Portuguese: intercultural
• Romanian: intercultural
• Russian: межкульту́рный (ru) (mežkulʹtúrnyj)
• Spanish: intercultural (es)
• Vietnamese: liên văn hoá

Catalan

Etymology

From inter- +‎ cultural.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [in.tər.kul.tuˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.teɾ.kul.tuˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [in.ter.kul.tuˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

intercultural m or f (masculine and feminine plural interculturals)

1. intercultural

Mandarin:

Further reading

• “intercultural”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “intercultural” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *-tér

Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥tér

Proto-Italic *n̥ter

Latin interlbor.

French inter-

French culturel

French interculturelbor.

Portuguese intercultural

Borrowed from French interculturel. By surface analysis, inter- +‎ cultural.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌĩ.teɾ.kuw.tuˈɾaw/ [ˌĩ.teɾ.kuʊ̯.tuˈɾaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌĩ.tɛɾ.kul.tuˈɾal/ [ˌĩ.tɛɾ.kuɫ.tuˈɾaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌĩ.tɛɾ.kul.tuˈɾal/ [ˌĩ.tɛɾ.kuɫ.tuˈɾaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌĩ.tɛɾ.kul.tuˈɾa.li/ [ˌĩ.tɛɾ.kuɫ.tuˈɾa.li]

• Hyphenation: in‧ter‧cul‧tu‧ral

Adjective

intercultural m or f (plural interculturais)

1. intercultural

Related terms

• intercultura

Further reading

• “intercultural”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “intercultural”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2026
• “intercultural”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “intercultural”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *-tér

Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥tér

Proto-Italic *n̥ter

Latin inter

Latin inter-lbor.

Spanish inter-

Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *kʷélh₁eti

Proto-Italic *kʷelō

Latin colō

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-?

Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂?

Latin -tūra

Latin cultūra

Spanish cultura

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Spanish -al

Spanish cultural

Spanish intercultural

From inter- + cultural.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inteɾkultuˈɾal/ [ĩn̪.t̪eɾ.kul̪.t̪uˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: in‧ter‧cul‧tu‧ral

Adjective

intercultural m or f (masculine and feminine plural interculturales)

1. intercultural

Derived terms

• interculturalidad

Further reading

• “intercultural”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025