Translation
meanwhile, in the meantime
Examples
.
Meanwhile the king was staying in the city.
accesserunt.
In the meantime the enemy approached the river.
pugnabant; .
The soldiers were fighting; meanwhile the general was forming a plan.
transibat.
Meanwhile the day was passing.
.
Nothing was done in the meantime.
Interea is inter plus an old neuter plural ea: "among those things", in the middle of all that. It is a narrative hinge rather than a time expression proper, and Virgil and Livy use it to cut from one thread of a story to another, often at the head of the sentence with nothing else before it.
Two things. It is an adverb and never governs a noun, so interea is not "during"; that is inter with the accusative, or per. And it overlaps with interim without being identical: interim leans towards "for the moment, for now", interea towards "while that was going on". The one fossil phrase to recognise is interea loci, an old colloquial equivalent that Plautus and Terence like, where the genitive loci adds nothing you can translate.
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interea: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "interea" (meanwhile, in the meantime): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 12.