Interspersals

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Items or occurrences scattered at intervals among other things, placed here and there within a larger whole
2. Separate pieces or instances inserted at irregular points throughout a surrounding mass or sequence
3. Bits set in between other elements at various spaces, distributed through something rather than grouped together

Etymology: "Interspersals" is the plural of "interspersal," a noun formed from the verb "intersperse" and the suffix "-al." The verb comes from Latin "interspersus," the past participle of "interspergere," meaning "to scatter among" (from "inter," "between," and "spargere," "to scatter"). The same Latin root gives English "sparse" and "disperse," so the word carries the idea of things scattered here and there among other things. The suffix "-al" turns the verb into a noun for the act or result of interspersing, so an interspersal is something that has been placed in between or scattered through something else. Because the word is a regular formation from a well-established verb, its history is straightforward, and its meaning follows directly from the parts it is built from.

Synonyms: interspersion, scattering, sprinkling