interlude [ME] Performances of medieval miracle plays could last all day, so to provide variety and relieve tension, performers would introduce short and often humorous dramatic pieces between the acts, which were the original interludes. The word derives from Latin inter ‘between, among’ and ludus ‘a play’. By the 17th century people were using interlude for the interval of time between the acts of a play, and by the 18th for any intervening time, space, or event.