Historically, an intercooler meant "a cooler placed between stages of compression." Example: In a twin-turbo engine, a cooler sits between compressors — hence intercooler. Overtime, the term became common for any device that cools turbocharged intake air.

In commercial diesel and heavy-duty trucking, the preferred term is Charge Air Cooler (CAC) because it cools the “charged” (pressurized) intake air before it enters the engine.

The only real technical distinction in strict thermodynamic terms:

• Intercooler = Between two compression stages.
• Charge Air Cooler = General industry term for cooling turbocharged intake air.

But in modern vehicle use, both describe the same physical component.

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