Interluding

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A short musical or dramatic performance inserted between the parts of a larger work; providing a break or transition in a narrative or event; serving as an intermission or diversion temporarily in a larger context
2. A brief segment added within a lengthy composition to create variety; functioning as a pause or change in the flow of a story or activity; acting as a brief entertainment amid a more extensive presentation
3. An inserted piece of entertainment that occurs between major sections of a performance; creating a shift or change in an ongoing discussion or occurrence; offering a momentary respite from a continuous act or event

Etymology: "Interluding" is the present participle of "interlude," so it is the form of that noun-verb that describes the act of inserting something between other things. The noun itself was formed in English from Latin roots: "inter-" meaning "between" and "ludere," meaning "to play." An interlude, then, is literally something played in the gap between two other things. The word's original sense was closer to literal play and entertainment. Medieval and early modern audiences used "interlude" for short comic or moral dramatic pieces performed between the courses of a feast or the acts of a longer entertainment, and the meaning of a pause or breathing space grew out of that theatrical sense. The verb then extended the idea: to interlude is to slip something into the middle of an ongoing event, whether a song between scenes or a brief change of mood in a conversation.

Synonyms: interrupting, intervening

Antonyms: continuing