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intervene (v.)

1580s, "intercept" (obsolete), a back-formation from intervention, or else from Latin intervenire "to come between, intervene; interrupt; stand in the way, oppose, hinder," from inter "between" (see inter-) + venire "to come," from a suffixed form of PIE root *gwa- "to go, come." Sense of "come between, fall or happen between" (of events) is from c. 1600; that of "interfere, interpose oneself between, act mediatorially" is from 1640s. Related: Intervened; intervener; intervening.

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Definitions of intervene from WordNet

intervene (v.)
get involved, so as to alter or hinder an action, or through force or threat of force;
Why did the U.S. not intervene earlier in WW II?
Synonyms: step in / interfere / interpose
intervene (v.)
be placed or located between other things or extend between spaces and events;
Eight days intervened
This interludes intervenes between the two movements
intervene (v.)
occur between other event or between certain points of time;
the war intervened between the birth of her two children
From wordnet.princeton.edu