interference

See also: interférence

English

Etymology

From interfere +‎ -ence. The sense in physics was likely introduced by Thomas Young, which he used as early as 1802 in a paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪntəɹˈfiɹɨns/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɪntəˈfiɹəns/

Noun

interference (countable and uncountable, plural interferences)

1. The act of interfering with something, or something that interferes.
   • 1961 March, B.A. Haresnape, “Design on the railway”, in Trains Illustrated, page 139:

     Somewhat impeded by constant political interference of one sort or another, British Railways are nevertheless pressing ahead with a mammoth modernisation programme; [...]

2. (sports) The illegal obstruction of an opponent in some ball games.

   They were glued to the TV, as the referee called out a fifteen yard penalty for interference.

3. (physics) An effect caused by the superposition of two systems of waves, such as a distortion on a broadcast signal due to atmospheric or other effects.

   They wanted to watch the game on TV, but there was too much interference to even make out the score on the tiny screen.

4. (US, law) In United States patent law, an inter partes proceeding to determine the priority issues of multiple patent applications; a priority contest.
5. (chess) The interruption of the line between an attacked piece and its defender by sacrificially interposing a piece.

Antonyms

• noninterference

Derived terms

Derived terms

• interference drag
• interference filter
• interference fit

• interference fringes
• interference microscope
• negative interference
• positive interference

Translations

act of interfering with something

• Arabic: تَدَاخُل m (tadāḵul)
• Belarusian: умяша́нне n (umjašánnje)
• Bulgarian: намеса (bg) f (namesa), вмешателство (bg) n (vmešatelstvo)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 阻礙／阻碍 (zh) (zǔ'ài), 阻碍 (zh) (zǔ'ài), 干涉 (zh) (gānshè), 干預 (zh) (gānyù), 干预 (zh) (gānyù)

• Danish: interferens c
• Dutch: bemoeien (nl)
• Finnish: häirintä (fi), väliintulo, puuttuminen (fi)
• French: ingérence (fr) f
• Galician: inxerencia (gl), interferencia (gl) f, intromisión (gl) f
• German: Einmischung f
• Irish: éaradh m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: whawhenga
• Persian: تداخل (fa)
• Polish: ingerencja (pl) f, wtrącanie się (pl) n
• Portuguese: interferência (pt) f
• Romanian: interferență (ro) f
• Russian: вмеша́тельство (ru) n (vmešátelʹstvo), поме́ха (ru) f (poméxa), препя́тствие (ru) n (prepjátstvije)
• Spanish: injerencia (es) f, interferencia (es) f, intromisión f
• Swedish: interferens (sv) c
• Ukrainian: втруча́ння n (vtručánnja)

intrusion into the scope of protection of a guaranteed right

• Arabic: تَدَاخُل m (tadāḵul)
• French: ingérence (fr) f
• Galician: inxerencia (gl) f
• German: Eingriff (de) m
• Russian: посяга́тельство (ru) n (posjagátelʹstvo), вмеша́тельство (ru) n (vmešátelʹstvo)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ме́ша̄ње n, мије́ша̄ње n

  Roman: méšānje n, mijéšānje (sh) n

• Spanish: injerencia (es) f

illegal obstruction of an opponent in some ball games

• Bulgarian: заслон (bg) m (zaslon)
• Catalan: interferència (ca) f
• Czech: nedovolené bránění n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: häirintä (fi), estäminen (fi)

effect caused by the superposition of two systems of waves

• Afrikaans: interferensie
• Bulgarian: интерференция (bg) f (interferencija)
• Danish: interferens c
• Finnish: interferenssi (fi), yhdistyminen (fi)
• Galician: interferencia (gl) f
• German: Interferenz (de), Störung (de) f
• Hungarian: interferencia (hu)
• Korean: 간섭 (ko) (gansub)
• Maori: whakararurarutanga
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian: interferens m
• Persian: تداخل (fa)
• Polish: interferencja (pl) f
• Portuguese: interferência (pt) f
• Russian: интерференция (ru) (interferencija)
• Spanish: interferencia (es) f
• Tagalog: kahilabtan

distortion on a broadcast signal due to atmospheric or other effects

• Bulgarian: смущения (bg) n pl (smuštenija)
• Finnish: häiriö (fi)
• German: Störung (de) f
• Hungarian: interferencia (hu)
• Portuguese: interferência (pt) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: поме́хи (ru) f pl (poméxi)
• Swedish: störning (sv) c
• Tagalog: kahilabtan