Internal

//ɪnˈtɜːnəl// adj

adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or situated on the inside.

    "We saw the internal compartments of the machine."

  2. 2
    Of or situated on the inside.; Within the body.

    "Her bleeding was internal."

  3. 3
    Of or situated on the inside.; Concerned with the domestic affairs of a nation, state or other political community.

    "The nation suffered from internal conflicts."

  4. 4
    Of or situated on the inside.; Concerned with the non-public affairs of a company or other organisation.

    "An internal investigation was conducted."

  5. 5
    Of or situated on the inside.; Present or arising within an organism or one of its parts.

    "an internal stimulus"

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    Of or situated on the inside.; Applied or intended for application through the stomach by being swallowed.

    "an internal remedy"

  2. 7
    Experienced in one's mind; inner rather than expressed.

    "internal feelings"

  3. 8
    Of the inner nature of a thing.
  4. 9
    Attending a university as well as taking its examinations. British
Adjective
  1. 1
    happening or arising or located within some limits or especially surface wordnet
  2. 2
    located inward wordnet
  3. 3
    inside the country wordnet
  4. 4
    occurring within an institution or community wordnet
  5. 5
    innermost or essential wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
innerinteriorinternintrinsicbosomcenter

Example

More examples

"The stomach is one of the internal organs."

Etymology

From Middle English internall, internalle, borrowing from New Latin internālis (“of or pertaining to the inner part”), from internus (“inward, internal”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). By surface analysis, intern + -al.

Related phrases

Internal Revenue Codeantero-internalcomplete internal reflectioninternal acoustic meatusinternal affairsinternal angleinternal auditory arteryinternal auditory canalinternal auditory meatusinternal carotid arteryinternal carotid plexusinternal combustion

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.