Definitions for interpret
ɪnˈtɜr prɪtin·ter·pret

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.3 / 3 votes

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?"

WiktionaryRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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 DictionaryRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

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, -ātus—interpres, inter, between, -pres, prob. conn. with Gr. phrasis, speech.]

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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  

Matched Categories

1. • Art
   • Perform
   • Performing Arts
   • Re-create
   • Understand

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

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

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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How to pronounce interpret?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. Natalia Polukhina:

   It seems very strange to me to interpret this building as a water tank. In the same fortress of Naryn-Kala, there is an equal underground structure of 10 meters depth, and it really is a tank. This is just a rectangular building. The unusual building, in which we have put our detectors, has the shape of a cross, oriented strictly to the sides of the world, one side is 2 meters longer than the others, as the archaeologists who began excavations say, during construction, the building was entirely on the surface and it stands on the highest point of the Naryn-Kala. What is the sense to put the tank on the surface, and even on the highest mountain? It is strange. Currently, there are more questions than answers.

2. Vincent Hutchings:

   To Republicans, Trump is simply saying: 'Hey, if you don't like America, you can leave, that is not at all controversial. If you already support Trump, then it's very easy to interpret his comments that way.

3. Vishnu Varathan:

   The U.S. stimulus story continues to be the half glass, which markets are happy to interpret as half full, the improved sentiment also derived from the fact that vaccinations hit the milestone within the U.S. of more vaccinations than infections and I think there’s a sense that the rollout program remains quite optimistic and encouraging.

4. Nicky Morgan:

   I don't think anyone should interpret today's announcement or discussion about the licence fee model as any kind of attack on the BBC.

5. Susan Sontag:

   I was not looking for my dreams to interpret my life, but rather for my life to interpret my dreams.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=interpret
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Interpret
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=interpret
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpret
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/interpret
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=interpret
8. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=interpret