---
title: "Interlocutor"
description: "An interlocutor is one who speaks between."
author: "Rahim Rasul"
type: "Defined term"
section: "Logos"
noted: "2025-10-26"
url: "https://iloveprocess.com/logos/interlocutor/"
site: "I Love Process"
---

# Interlocutor

_Latin inter, between + loquī, to speak_

## Definition

**Interlocutor** refers to a person who takes part in a dialogue or conversation. The term specifically refers to someone who asks questions or participates in a formal discussion, interview, or interrogation. In theatrical contexts, it can refer to the middle person in a minstrel show who conducts dialogue with end performers.

## First-Principles Definition

**An interlocutor is one who speaks between.** It names a position, not a performance: the person inside a dialogue, speaking and being answered, rather than speaking at an audience or listening from outside. An interlocutor is defined not by *what* they say but by *where* they stand in the exchange, in the space between silence and monologue.

At its core, it asks:

- **Who is speaking?** An interlocutor has a voice in the exchange, not just a seat near it.
- **Who answers back?** There must be at least one other voice; without one, speech is monologue.
- **Where do they stand?** Inside the dialogue, between the others, shaping it as it shapes them.

## Etymology

- *inter*: between, among
- *loquī*: to speak

The word **interlocutor** comes from the Latin *inter* meaning "between" or "among" and *loquī* meaning "to speak." Joined in the verb *interloquī*, "to speak between," they form the Medieval Latin *interlocūtor*: "one who speaks between." The term entered English in the 16th century.