interlude
n.a short period of time between two longer events. It is often a break in a play or a piece of music where you can rest or think about what you just saw.
n.a short period of time that intervenes between longer events or periods; specifically, a musical or dramatic piece performed between the main parts of a larger work.
“The band played a short acoustic interlude between their louder songs.”
“During the twenty-minute interlude, the audience moved to the lobby for refreshments before the second act began.”
“The brief interlude of peace between the two wars allowed the nation to rebuild its infrastructure, though the underlying political tensions remained largely unresolved.”
Often used with the preposition 'of' to describe the nature of the break, such as an 'interlude of calm'.
“The contest was first held in 1983, inspired by an alcohol-fuelled conversation in a pub, and has been held every year since 1997 apart from an interlude during Covid.”
“That Frank is almost a forgotten figure owes much to the Igor Tudor interlude, a misadventure that resembled a disaster movie.”
Latin inter- (“between”) + ludo (“to play”)
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.