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. Richard Spencer:

    I need a formal order to act, i do not interpret (tweets) as a formal order.

  2. Jack Dorsey:

    I think it’s more and more important to at least clarify what our own bias leans towards, and just express it … I ’d rather know what someone biases to rather than try to interpret through their actions.

  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. Hunter Handsfield:

    The notion that there is a risk that they will rebound, to me, makes a certain amount of sense. But it's with that caveat that we really don't know very well how to interpret the data behind those observations.

  5. Ruslan Balbek:

    There is often a confusion of concepts: people interpret a crackdown on religious sects which are banned in Russia ... as a persecution of the Crimean Tatars.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

interpret#10000#10023#100000

Translations for interpret

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for interpret »

Translation

Find a translation for the interpret definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"interpret." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/interpret>.

Discuss these interpret definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for interpret? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Image or illustration of

    interpret

    Credit »

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Browse Definitions.net

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    showing intellectual penetration or emotional depth
    A urban
    B cosmopolitan
    C profound
    D aligned

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for interpret: