interpenetrate

American  

[in-ter-pen-i-treyt] / ˌɪn tərˈpɛn ɪˌtreɪt /

verb (used with object)

interpenetrated, interpenetrating

1. to penetrate thoroughly; permeate.

2. to penetrate with (something else) mutually or reciprocally.

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verb (used without object)

interpenetrated, interpenetrating

1. to penetrate between things or parts.

2. to penetrate each other.

interpenetrate British  

/ ˌɪntəˈpɛnɪˌtreɪt /

verb

1. to penetrate (something) thoroughly; pervade

2. to penetrate each other or one another mutually

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Other Word Forms

• interpenetrable adjective
• interpenetrant adjective
• interpenetration noun
• interpenetrative adjective
• interpenetratively adverb

Etymology

Origin of interpenetrate

First recorded in 1800–10; inter- + penetrate

Example Sentences

Specifically, this problem was unsolved for smooth Möbius strips that are “embedded” instead of “immersed,” meaning they “don't interpenetrate themselves,” or self-intersect, says Richard Evan Schwartz, a mathematician at Brown University.

From Scientific American • Sep. 12, 2023

Negative space and positive materiality interpenetrate in an extraordinary formal condensation of Cubist technique.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 26, 2022

It works both ways, too; art and life interpenetrate each other.

From The Guardian • May 30, 2014

“The Planetary Omnibus” immerses the reader in a world where our apparent reality and low-rent, pop-culture fixtures that refused to go away interpenetrate each other to create a new status quo.

From New York Times • Feb. 20, 2014

All you need to bear in mind is that rhetoric is a fuzzy art: these divisions overlap and interpenetrate.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith