intervenute

Intervenute is a rarely used English noun referring to a person who intervenes in a matter, typically in legal or public-affairs contexts. In contemporary usage, the term is uncommon; more standard alternatives are intervener or intervenor for a party that participates in a legal proceeding, and intervention for the act itself.

Origins and usage: The form appears in older legal and rhetorical writing, derived from the Latin intervenire, and was adopted into English with a suffix to denote a person associated with the action. Today, intervenute is generally regarded as archaic or literary, and few modern dictionaries list it as a primary sense.

In modern practice: When referring to a participant in a proceeding, most writers would say intervenor or intervener, or describe the right or act of intervention. Intervenute may be encountered in historical texts or stylistic quotations, but it is not standard legal terminology.

Other domains: Outside law, intervenute can be seen in discussions of debate or conflict where someone steps in to influence events. It remains closely related to intervenor/intervener and intervention, and is sometimes noted as a cognate in discussions of etymology.

See also: Intervenor, Intervener, Intervention, Intervene, Intercession, Mediation.