What does interpret mean?

Definitions for interpret
ɪnˈtɜr prɪtin·ter·pret

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word interpret.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. interpret, construe, seeverb

    make sense of; assign a meaning to

    "What message do you see in this letter?"; "How do you interpret his behavior?"

  2. rede, interpretverb

    give an interpretation or explanation to

  3. interpret, renderverb

    give an interpretation or rendition of

    "The pianist rendered the Beethoven sonata beautifully"

  4. represent, interpretverb

    create an image or likeness of

    "The painter represented his wife as a young girl"

  5. translate, interpret, renderverb

    restate (words) from one language into another language

    "I have to translate when my in-laws from Austria visit the U.S."; "Can you interpret the speech of the visiting dignitaries?"; "She rendered the French poem into English"; "He translates for the U.N."

  6. understand, read, interpret, translateverb

    make sense of a language

    "She understands French"; "Can you read Greek?"

Wiktionary

  1. interpretverb

    To explain or tell the meaning of; to expound; to translate orally into intelligible or familiar language or terms; to decipher; to define; -- applied especially to language, but also to dreams, signs, conduct, mysteries, etc.; as, to interpret the Hebrew language to an Englishman; to interpret an Indian speech.

  2. interpretverb

    To apprehend and represent by means of art; to show by illustrative representation; as, an actor interprets the character of Hamlet; a musician interprets a sonata; an artist interprets a landscape.

  3. interpretverb

    To act as an interpreter.

  4. Etymology: From interpreten, from enterpreter, (interpréter), from interpretor, past participle interpretatus, from interpres, from inter + -pres, probably the root of pretium; -pres is probably connected with φράζειν, from which φραδή, φράσις; see phrase.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To INTERPRETverb

    To explain; to translate; to decipher; to give a solution; to clear by exposition; to expound.

    Etymology: interpreter, French; interpretor, Lat.

    One, but painted thus,
    Would be interpreted a thing perplex'd
    Beyond self-explication. William Shakespeare, Cymbeline.

    You should be women,
    And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
    That you are so. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    He hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Gen. xl. 22.

    Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto him. Gen. xli. 8.

    An excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel. Dan. v. 12.

    Hear his sighs, though mute!
    Unskilful with what words to pray, let me
    Interpret for him. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. xi.

Wikipedia

  1. interpret

    Interpreting is a translational activity in which one produces a first and final target-language output on the basis of a one-time exposure to an expression in a source language. The most common two modes of interpreting are simultaneous interpreting, which is done at the time of the exposure to the source language, and consecutive interpreting, which is done at breaks to this exposure. Interpreting is an ancient human activity which predates the invention of writing. However, the origins of the profession of interpreting date back to less than a century ago.

ChatGPT

  1. interpret

    To interpret is to explain or understand the meaning, significance, or intention of something such as words, actions, signs, symbols, or artistic expressions. It can also refer to translating spoken words from one language to another.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Interpretverb

    to explain or tell the meaning of; to expound; to translate orally into intelligible or familiar language or terms; to decipher; to define; -- applied esp. to language, but also to dreams, signs, conduct, mysteries, etc.; as, to interpret the Hebrew language to an Englishman; to interpret an Indian speech

  2. Interpretverb

    to apprehend and represent by means of art; to show by illustrative representation; as, an actor interprets the character of Hamlet; a musician interprets a sonata; an artist interprets a landscape

  3. Interpretverb

    to act as an interpreter

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Interpret

    in-tėr′pret, v.t. to explain the meaning of, to elucidate, unfold, show the purport of: to translate into intelligible or familiar terms.—v.i. to practise interpretation.—adj. Inter′pretable, capable of being explained.—n. Interpretā′tion, act of interpreting: the sense given by an interpreter: the power of explaining: the representation of a dramatic part according to one's conception of it.—adj. Interpretā′tive, collected by or containing interpretation.—adv. Inter′pretātively.—n. Inter′preter, one who explains between two parties: an expounder: a translator. [Fr.,—L. interprerāri, -ātusinterpres, inter, between, -pres, prob. conn. with Gr. phrasis, speech.]

Editors Contribution

  1. interpret

    To understand accurately and easily communication, words, language, instruction and definitions of language.

    She did interpret the questionnaire and responded to the best of her interpretation at that moment of time.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 20, 2020  

British National Corpus

  1. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'interpret' in Verbs Frequency: #455

How to pronounce interpret?

How to say interpret in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of interpret in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of interpret in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of interpret in a Sentence

  1. David Bentley:

    ( There) has been a lack of data from other ethnic groups around the world, compared to Caucasians, as a result, the diagnostic rates for people from those backgrounds is lower. There are more variants from those backgrounds that we do n’t know anything about – we ca n’t interpret them.

  2. Rosemarie Scolaro Moser:

    Taking time off from school or work to rest immediately following a concussion facilitates healing, the problem is that many doctors interpret the research on exercise introduction to mean that by day two or three the student should be up and running.

  3. David Maxwell of the Foundation:

    It gives them options, north Korea would interpret that as, OK we can do a satellite launch. But North Korea would also depend on the conditions inside or North Korea. If Kim Jong Un feels Kim Jong has to prove Kim Jong to the military and give off the appearance Kim Jong is strong, Kim Jong Un may help Kim Jong. Because by Trump walking out, Chairman Kim appeared weak.

  4. Anthony Kennedy:

    Some people say that should affect the way we interpret the statutes. That seems to me a wrong proposition.

  5. Eoin Whelan:

    It's like we can't interpret our own body signals. We are becoming very dependent on the technology to actually do that for us, some of the athletes that I coach, you can ask them a simple question like' how did you sleep last night ?' and they can't answer unless they look at the data.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

interpret#10000#10023#100000

Translations for interpret

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"interpret." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/interpret>.

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