Intern: meaning, definitions and examples

Typically used to describe someone who is gaining work experience in a professional setting, often while still in school or shortly after graduation.

• Jane is working as an intern at the marketing firm this summer.
• As an intern, Tom is responsible for assisting with various projects and tasks.

Describes someone who is being trained for a particular job or profession, often within an organization, and may imply a period of probation or initial learning.

• The company has several new trainees who are learning how to use the software.
• As a trainee nurse, Emily spends a lot of time observing and assisting experienced staff.

Used for someone who is learning a trade or craft from a skilled employer, having agreed to work for a fixed period of time at low wages.

• John is an apprentice carpenter who is learning the trade from a master builder.
• The young chef worked as an apprentice in a top restaurant to gain experience.

Refers to someone who is formally enrolled in an educational institution, such as a school, college, or university.

• Mary is a student at the local high school.
• He's a university student majoring in biology.

To confine or imprison someone, typically in a military or wartime context.

• The refugees were interned in a camp until the conflict ended.
• During the war, many people were interned because of their nationality.

A variable that is defined within a specific function or block of code in programming, and is only accessible within that block.

• In Python, a local variable is declared inside a function and cannot be used outside of it.
• He had to debug his code because the local variable 'count' was not initialized properly.

Use when referring to placing someone, particularly a civilian or member of a specific group, in confinement during wartime or other crisis situations. This has a negative and often historical connotation.

• During World War II, many Japanese-Americans were interned in camps.
• The government decided to intern enemy aliens in a secure facility.

Use when referring to restricting someone's movement to a particular area, often for practical or logistical reasons, without any implication of wrongdoing.

• The patients are confined to their rooms to prevent the spread of infection.
• During the storm, we confined ourselves to the basement for safety.

Use when referring to holding someone back or keeping them in custody, usually in a legal or formal context, often implying suspicion or accusation.

• The police detained the suspect for questioning.
• They were detained at the airport due to missing documentation.