Meaning & use
intercession
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Meanings
noununcountable
The act of speaking or acting for someone else in order to help them or to settle a dispute.
Grammar: Often used with by or through: it was settled through her intercession.
Patterns
- the intercession of someone
- through someone's intercession
- intercession with someone on behalf of someone
The prisoner was freed thanks to the intercession of a local bishop.
Her intercession with the director saved three jobs.
Without the minister's intercession, the dispute might have dragged on for years.
nouncountable or uncountablereligion
A prayer in which a person asks God or a saint to help someone else.
Grammar: Can name the practice (uncountable) or a single prayer (countable): the congregation offered an intercession for the sick.
Patterns
- intercession for someone
- prayers of intercession
Every Sunday the church sets aside time for intercession for the sick.
Many pilgrims seek the saint's intercession in times of trouble.
The priest led a short intercession for the victims of the flood.
Word forms
| plural | intercessions |
|---|
Common combinations
- divine intercession
- The villagers believed that divine intercession had ended the drought.
- through the intercession of
- He won a pardon through the intercession of his former teacher.
- seek intercession
- She sought intercession from a senior colleague.
- prayers of intercession
- The service closed with prayers of intercession for peace.
- offer intercession
- The ambassador offered intercession between the two parties.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mediation
- Mediation means helping two sides reach agreement as a neutral person, whereas intercession usually means speaking up for one side.
- intervention
- Intervention means stepping into a situation, often forcefully, while intercession suggests a plea made for someone else's benefit.
- advocacy
- Advocacy is public or long-term support for a cause or person, while intercession is a specific act of pleading on someone's behalf.
- petition
- A petition is a formal request made for oneself or a group, whereas intercession is a request made for another person.
Word family
- intercede verb
- to plead or act for another person
- intercessor noun
- a person who pleads on behalf of another
- intercessory adjective
- relating to pleading for others, as in intercessory prayer
Commonly confused: intercession or intersession? intercession or concession?
intercession vs intersession
Intersession is a short academic term between semesters, while intercession is the act of pleading for someone else.
intercession vs concession
A concession is something you give up in a negotiation, while an intercession is a plea made for another person.
Practice
The family believed their daughter recovered through the saint's ___.
Choose one answer.
Intercession is a plea to a saint on someone else's behalf. Intersession is a look-alike meaning a break between semesters, and concession and succession mean different things.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “intercession”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.