different between interim vs ersatz

English

Etymology

From Latin interim (“meanwhile”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??nt???m/
• Hyphenation: in?ter?im

Adjective

interim (not comparable)

1. Transitional.
2. Temporary.

   Synonyms: provisional, (UK) caretaker

Translations

Noun

interim (plural interims)

1. A transitional or temporary period between other events.

   Synonyms: between-time; see also Thesaurus:interim

Translations

Anagrams

• Termini, mintier, termini

Latin

Etymology

From inter + im, archaic adverb from the stem of the pronoun is (“that, this”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?in.te.rim/, [??n?t??????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?in.te.rim/, [?in?t???im]

Adverb

interim (not comparable)

1. meanwhile, in the meantime

Descendants

• ? Angevin: adementiers, ademintiers
• Asturian: entrín, intre, demientres (dum interim), mientres (dum interim)
• ? Catalan: mentre (< dum interim)
• ? English: interim
• ? Galician: intre (semi-learned)
• ? German: Interim
• ? Italian: mentre (< dum interim)
• ? Old French: dementre, mentre, dementieres, adementiers (< dum interim)
• ? Old Portuguese: domentres, dementres, mentres (< dum interim)
  • Galician: mentres
  • Portuguese: mentes
• ? Spanish: mientras (< dum interim)

References

• interim in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• interim in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• interim in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• interim in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Ersatz (“replacement”); and from the German ersetzen (“to replace”, verb).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???zæts/, IPA^(key): /???sæts/
• (US) IPA^(key): /????s?ts/, IPA^(key): /????z?ts/, IPA^(key): /????s??ts/, IPA^(key): /????z??ts/, IPA^(key): /??sæts/
• (US) IPA^(key): [????s??ts]
• Hyphenation: er?satz

Adjective

ersatz (comparative more ersatz, superlative most ersatz)

1. made in imitation; artificial, especially of a poor quality
   • 1923, Arthur Michael Samuel, The Mancroft Essays, Pinchbeck, page 164 (possibly published before in The Saturday Review in 1917–1921):

     In these days of “rolled” gold, electro-plate, and undetectable pearls, it is curious that almost the only honest Ersatz material known to the goldsmith's art should be utterly forgotten.

   • 1929, "Zeppelining," Time, 16 Sep.,

     Ersatzgas, Ersatzpfennige. Ersatz has become a brave word in Germany. As a substantive it means War Reparations. As part of compounded words it means substitute.

   • 2001, The New Yorker, 15 Oct,

     The avant-garde's opposite number, in Greenberg's scheme, is kitsch, "ersatz culture"—art for capitalism's new man (who turns out to be no different from Fascism's or Communism's new man).

   • 2003, The New Yorker, 17 & 24 Feb,

     The NATO visitors watched an ersatz eighteenth-century dance (complete with powdered wigs and simulated copulation) that might have been considered obscene had it not been so amusing.

   • 2004, The New Yorker, 31 May,

     The crowd wandered out to a huge party on the ersatz city blocks of the Paramount lot.

   Synonyms: artificial, faux, imitation, knock off, (obsolete) gingerbread

Noun

ersatz (plural ersatzes)

1. something made in imitation; an effigy or substitute

   (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

   Synonyms: imitation, knock off

Translations

See also

• ansatz (mathematics, physics)

Anagrams

• Artzes

French

Etymology

Borrowed from German Ersatz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.zats/

Noun

ersatz m (plural ersatz)

1. ersatz

Further reading

• “ersatz” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).