intercept

Intercept is a term used across disciplines with two broad senses: as a verb meaning to stop, seize, or interrupt the progress of someone or something; and as a noun referring to the object or result of such an action, or to a point where a path is cut off.

In mathematics, an intercept is a point where a graph crosses an axis. A y-intercept is where the line crosses the y-axis (x = 0); an x-intercept is where it crosses the x-axis (y = 0). Lines can be described by intercept form x/a + y/b = 1, where a and b are the intercepts on the x- and y-axes. The term is also used in statistics to denote the intercept term in a regression equation, representing the expected value when all predictors are zero.

In communications and law, interception refers to the act of monitoring, capturing, or recording messages or data in transit, often conducted by authorities under legal authorization, but subject to privacy and civil liberties considerations.

In military and aviation contexts, interception refers to an operation to stop or identify a target, such as scrambling fighter aircraft to approach and identify an approaching plane, or intercepting a vessel on the high seas.

Etymology: The word derives from Latin interceptus, the past participle of intercipere, meaning to seize or cut off between; the modern sense of cutting off or stopping arises from this root.