1514, "face-to-face meeting, formal conference," from M.Fr.
entrevue, verbal noun from
s'entrevoir "to see each other, visit each other briefly, have a glimpse of," from
entre- "between" (from L.
inter-) + O.Fr.
voir "to see" (from L.
videre; see
vision). Modern Fr.
interview is from Eng. Journalistic sense is first attested 1869 in Amer.Eng.
"The 'interview,' as at present managed, is generally the joint product of some humbug of a hack politician and another humbug of a newspaper reporter." ["The Nation," Jan. 28, 1869]
The verb meaning "to have a personal meeting" is from 1548.