interpretin‧ter‧pret /ɪnˈtɜːprɪt $ -ɜːr-/ ●●○ W3 AWL verb 
Word Origin Examples
They spoke good Spanish, and promised to interpret for me.2[transitive] to believe that something someone does or something that happens has a particular meaninginterpret something as something His refusal to work late was interpreted as a lack of commitment to the company.3[transitive] to explain the meaning of something: Freud’s attempts to interpret the meaning of dreams4[transitive] to perform a part in a play, a piece of music etc in a way that shows your feelings about it or what you think it means
Word OriginWORD ORIGINinterpret
Verb TableOrigin:
1300-1400 French interpréter, from Latin interpretari, from interpres ‘someone who explains or translates’VERB TABLE
interpret
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | interpret |
| he, she, it | interprets | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | interpreted |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have interpreted |
| he, she, it | has interpreted | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had interpreted |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will interpret |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have interpreted |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am interpreting |
| he, she, it | is interpreting | |
| you, we, they | are interpreting | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was interpreting |
| you, we, they | were interpreting | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been interpreting |
| he, she, it | has been interpreting | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been interpreting |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be interpreting |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been interpreting |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- An artist has as much right to interpret history as a historian.
- During lunch, Ben interpreted for Sasha, who didn't speak a word of English.
- Fairy tales can be interpreted in several different ways.
- For the school's deaf students, she interpreted the entire play in American Sign Language.
- How would you interpret her letter? Is she really hostile or just being ironic?
- I interpreted her silence as anger.
- I had to interpret for my boss on the last trip to Japan.
- No one in our tour group spoke Spanish so we had to ask the guide to interpret.
- The data has not yet been interpreted.
- The statement was interpreted as a threat against the United States.
- They are worried that the workers might interpret the new law as a restriction of their rights.
- This dream can be interpreted in several different ways.
- We'll have to find someone who speaks Chinese to interpret the questions and answers for our guests.
THESAURUS► translate
Collocations verb [intransitive, transitive] to change written or spoken words into another language: · She has translated a number of his books.· Michael Meyer translated the play from the original Norwegian.· Can you translate this into French?
► interpret verb [intransitive, transitive] to change what someone is saying into another language, as they are speaking: · No one in our tour group spoke Spanish so we had to ask the guide to interpret.· We'll have to find someone who speaks Chinese to interpret the questions and answers for our guests.· I had to interpret for my boss on the last trip to Japan.
► put something into English/French/Japanese etc British English to translate something into another language, especially a few words or a short piece of writing: · I've written a message for Fabio. Could you put it into Italian for me?· I had to put a list of Japanese words into English.
Longman Language Activatorto believe that something has a particular meaning► interpret to choose to believe that what someone says or does has a particular meaning, especially if it is not easy to understand or is not completely clear: · How would you interpret her letter? Is she really hostile or just being ironic?· This dream can be interpreted in several different ways.interpret something as something: · I interpreted her silence as anger.· They are worried that the workers might interpret the new law as a restriction of their rights.
► understand something to mean to think that something has a particular meaning even though you cannot be completely sure that this is what it means: · Democracy was originally understood to mean the people governing themselves.· The Victorians understood "The environment" to mean the background to human activity, in particular, industrial activity.
► read into to think that something has a meaning that it does not in fact have, especially by thinking that it is more important than it really is: read something into something: · Be careful not to read your own modern opinions into this story.· The statement criticized journalists for reading too much into what he had said about the war.read into something something: · Some critics have read into the more macabre scenes a subconscious hatred of his parents.
► take something as to believe that what someone does or says has a particular meaning, especially if you think it shows their attitude towards you: take something as an insult/compliment/criticism etc: · Had he spoken like this to anyone else, it would have been taken as an insult.· I take it as a compliment when my students ask questions after class.take something as a sign/signal etc: · The investors took this interest rate cut as a sign that the Government was desperate.
► infer formal to think that something is true because another fact makes it seem likely, even though it does not prove it completely: · From this, astronomers can infer the presence of many more "black holes".infer (from something) that: · It seems reasonable to infer that the cause was not sabotage but a simple accident.· We can infer from the archaeological evidence that there was slavery in Carthage.
► read between the lines to guess the real meaning of something by thinking very carefully and noticing that the meaning is different from what it at first seems to be: · Perseverance is required to understand the story and you have to read between the lines to find the book's full meaning.reading between the lines (=used to say what you think the real situation is): · Reading between the lines, I don't think they want to train people who might soon leave the company.
to translate something► translate to change one language, especially in a piece of writing, into another: · She has translated a number of his books.translate something from something: · Michael Meyer translated the play from the original Norwegian.translate something into something: · Can you translate this into French?· The book has been translated into 27 languages.translate from something into something: · The best translators usually translate from a foreign language into their native language.
► interpret to immediately translate what is being said to someone in a foreign language, so that it can be understood or replied to: · No one in our tour group spoke Spanish so we had to ask the guide to interpret.· We'll have to find someone who speaks Chinese to interpret the questions and answers for our guests.interpret for: · I had to interpret for my boss on the last trip to Japan.· During lunch, Ben interpreted for Sasha, who didn't speak a word of English.
► put something into English/French/Japanese etc British to translate a short piece of writing into a foreign language: · I've written a birthday message for Fabio. Could you put it into Italian for me?· You lived in Berlin - help me put this into German.
to understand the meaning of something in a particular way► make of to believe that something strange, difficult, or unusual has a particular meaning: · Have you read Dawson's letter? What do you make of it?· Tom could see that McCarron didn't know what to make of the information.
► read to think that a remark, an action, an event etc shows that someone has a particular opinion or feeling even though they do not say this directly: · Good managers are usually able to read a situation quickly and take the right action.read something as something: · Men shouldn't be surprised if women read this behaviour as threatening.
► take something to mean to choose to understand a particular meaning in someone's words or actions without being sure that this is the correct meaning: · There was a pause, which he took to mean she was angry.· Television producers should not take low ratings to mean failure.
► see something as to understand a remark, a piece of writing, an event etc as having a particular meaning, especially because of your own feelings, opinions, or situation: · I see this poem as an attack on social injustice.· Young children often see the birth of a new brother or sister as a great threat.
► interpret to choose to understand a piece of information or group of facts in one of several possible ways: · Fairy tales can be interpreted in several different ways.interpret something as something: · The statement was interpreted as a threat against the United States.
► understand by to find a particular meaning in an expression or in the name of something, even though other people may understand it differently: · What do you understand by the term "alternative medicine"?· He spoke of profits, by which I understood profits for his company, not for us.
► understand something/somebody to mean to think that someone's remarks, a word, a piece of writing etc means something or has a particular message, even though this is not stated directly: · "It's very good. You'll like it," their mother said, and gave them a look that they understood to mean they must eat it whether they liked it or not.
► construe something as formal to understand a remark or action in a particular way, when there are other possible ways of understanding it: · Such activities by the Americans could be construed as an act of war.· Films that could be construed as offensive are shown after nine o'clock.
WORD SETS► Performingacrobat, nounact, verbacting, nounactor, nounactress, nounagent, nounarena, nounbig name, nounbill, nounblack comedy, nounbook, verbcast, nouncasting, nounclown, nouncomedian, nouncomedienne, nouncomedy, nouncomic, nouncompany, nounconcert hall, nounconjure, verbconjurer, nounconjuring, nounconservatoire, nounconservatory, nouncontortionist, noundisplay, noundouble act, nounduo, nounemcee, nounenact, verbencore, nounentertainer, nounentertainment, nounfestival, nounfinale, nounfirst night, nounfool, noungala, noungrand finale, nounguest, nounham, nounheadline, verbheartthrob, nounhigh wire, nounhypnotist, nounimpersonator, nounimpresario, nouninterlude, nounintermission, nouninterpret, verbinterpretation, nounintro, nounlive, adjectivemagic, nounmagician, nounmagic wand, nounmajorette, nounmanager, nounmask, nounmatinée, nounmatinée idol, nounmegastar, nounmime, nounminstrel, nounnarration, nounopening night, nounPA, nounpart, nounperform, verbperformance, nounperformer, nounpresentation, nounprincipal, nounproducer, nounprogramme, nounprompt, verbprompt, nounpublic, nounpunchline, nounraconteur, nounrecast, verbrecitation, nounrehearsal, nounrehearse, verbrepertoire, nounreprise, nounringside, nounroadshow, nounrole-play, nounsafety net, nounshow business, nounshowgirl, nounshow-stopping, adjectivesketch, nounslapstick, nounsleight of hand, nounsmash hit, nounsnake charmer, nounsold out, adjectiveson et lumière, nounstand-up, adjectivestand-up, nounstar, verbstooge, nounstraight man, nounstripper, nounstriptease, nounsuperstar, nountattoo, nountightrope, nountour, nountroubadour, nountroupe, nountumbler, nounventriloquist, nounvirtuoso, nounwooden, adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► as
Word family· There was nothing in his face that she could interpret as affection or even as desire.· But it can be interpreted as stating that on average there is more variety in the trading equilibrium than in autarky.· This semantic shift should not necessarily be interpreted as indicating a decline in nationalism or racism.· Unfortunately the resulting diagram is not so easy to interpret as are some of the other forms of chart.· This could be interpreted as weak and lacking authority; it could equally be interpreted as polite and considerate.· Is it then the case that no group of these fundamental quantitative propositions of science can be interpreted as stating causal connections?· This has been interpreted as increasing arousal to levels incompatible with that task.· Recall that the summation convention requires the right-hand side of this equation to be interpreted as.
NOUN► action· However, interpreting their actions nowadays suggests to us that this is not altogether true.· The referee has to see and correctly interpret extremely fast actions.
► attempt· His genuine desire to make up may be interpreted as an attempt to embarrass or be-little.· Some have interpreted it as an attempt to win Hispanic votes at the expense of military readiness.· They were interpreted as an attempt to create a wider market in cultivated land.· It is likely that the move will also be interpreted as an attempt by the nuclear industry to renew its fading influence.
► behaviour· Desmond Morris interprets the behaviour of domesticated horses, and reveals it as being much the same as their wild ancestors.· Desmond Morris interprets the behaviour of farm animals.· Jealousy is a label here that merely interprets that behaviour.· The mating behaviour of pied flycatchers is immensely complicated and scientists studying them interpret their behaviour slightly differently.· They sometimes find it difficult to see other people's point of view and to interpret other people's behaviour.
► change· Wilson waited, not sure how to interpret the sudden change of atmosphere.· The long-wave framework, therefore, has considerable appeal for interpreting modern structural change.· His parents welcomed him, assuming he was back for an indefinite stay and perhaps interpreting this as a change of heart.
► court· It is for the courts to interpret those words soas to give effect to that purpose.· The Constitution, and the courts that have interpreted it, posit rights to liberty, privacy and equal protection.· The court in interpreting the clause, leans against the seller.· The court said the government interpreted the federal law so loosely that it usurped Congress' authority.· Then the courts interpret such phrases soas to give themselves more or less control as they wish.· The decision in 1949 to establish a court to enforce and interpret the Constitution was a historical act of revenge on Bismarck.· Apart from adding a gloss to the section, the courts have had to interpret the actual wording.· Despite this, the effectiveness of the newly amended s.62 will depend largely on how the courts decide to interpret it.
► data· The briefing sheet also provides help in interpreting the data.· They must understand finance and information systems, and be able to interpret data.· It interprets the data and provides summary reports to the client running the program.· These include classifying, observing, predicting, inferring, hypothesizing, interpreting data, and measuring.· Ching-Hon Pui was a principal investigator of the leukaemia treatment protocols and interpreted the data.· Even when some superstar analyst discovers a winning way to interpret data, others follow, and the method becomes obsolete.· Psychologists and physiologists have always been resigned to using statistical analyses to extract meaning from and interpret their data.· Some one else would then interpret the data and write reports.
► difficulty· Discussion Meta-analysis increases the statistical power of tests but does not eliminate causes of bias and difficulties in interpreting the results.· The difficulties of interpreting the law are shown by a number of cases that have arisen.· Volatile and unpredictable exchange rates result in difficulties in interpreting the market's signals.· Souquet etal also emphasised the difficulty in interpreting parietal thickening in patients evaluated after radiation therapy.
► event· But it is impossible for him in his findings not to interpret events.· Alexander had a knack for interpreting events around him.· How was he to interpret these events?· Seligman and other researchers and practitioners insist that you can have control over how you explain and interpret life events.· The person prone to depression has a tendency to interpret events negatively.· Perhaps he can be helped to interpret the events as less threatening.· The press was at first unhelpful in either explaining or interpreting the events.
► evidence· Such information helps archaeologists to interpret excavated evidence more accurately.· Certain Martian surface features have been interpreted as evidence of ancient ocean beds and widespread glaciation.· This was interpreted as evidence of discomfort and distress.· Because of the underlying sense of grievance numerous situations could have been interpreted as yet further evidence of white imperialism.· Some critics have interpreted this as evidence that he finds the human body disgusting, but the opposite is true.· Marxists, on the other hand, interpret the same evidence the other way round.
► experience· They should be able to interpret their experience and assurance in the light of the revealed truths of the gospel.· Answers about personal qualities and abilities are harder to interpret, although experience does make it easier.
► form· The skills pupils need are the strategies of problem solving; interpreting mathematical forms and statements; representing situations mathematically.· By comparison, functionalism has often been interpreted as a form of ruling class ideology.· Racism is interpreted as a form of displacement and objectification deriving from unhealthy neuroses and personality traits.
► information· However, even when this is achieved, there may still be problems in interpreting what this information means.· You have little chance of consistently interpreting information in a superior way.· A water quality officer interprets the information and can instruct Cyclops to collect a sample of the discharge in a sealed container.· Management accountants are to analyze and interpret the financial information corporate executives need to make sound business decisions.· It is therefore important to understand the causes of individual differences in children's abilities to interpret non verbal information correctly.· Rather, people interpret and retain media information selectively to reinforce their existing attitudes.· They learn to use a variety of different methods of gathering information for themselves and then to interpret that information.
► law· A solicitor can interpret the law for you and help you take advantage of your full legal entitlement to reliefs and allowances.· That background could mean that you have the ability to interpret complex laws regarding employee rights.· Umpires must interpret the bad light law correctly for the sake of the crowd.· The court said the government interpreted the federal law so loosely that it usurped Congress' authority.· If circumstances arise which are not fully covered, the judge must interpret law and principles accordingly.· The difficulties of interpreting the law are shown by a number of cases that have arisen.· It is also important for balance when interpreting laws.· They could interpret the word law in a more pragmatic or policy oriented sense.
► meaning· A good counsellor helps them to interpret the meaning behind the words each speaks.· And they interpret that as meaning that whatever happens in the money market exporters should still retain some of their current advantage.· Confusion between the sources of faunal diversity could easily lead to mistakes in interpreting its meaning.· This could be interpreted as meaning that the Act applies to the activity duty.
► move· Those who advocated reform argued consistently that it ought not to be interpreted as a permissive move for two reasons.· Franco interpreted this move, not as a gesture of diplomatic expediency, but as a demonstration of western approval.
► result· Several potential limitations should be considered in interpreting the results of this study.· I interpret as the inevitable result of conflict between art and female obligation in upper-class, old-family Boston.· Discussion Meta-analysis increases the statistical power of tests but does not eliminate causes of bias and difficulties in interpreting the results.· However, the results generated in the output file will logically be interpreted with the same results.· This should be kept in mind in interpreting the results.· In such circumstances one would have to be very careful about interpreting the results of Turing tests.· We can not be sure of how to interpret the results.· One is that latent inhibition should not be interpreted as being the result of a loss of stimulus associability.
► rule· This general approach to drafting carries the risk that the rule will be difficult to interpret.· McGehee advocates the creation of an independent Office of Ethics Counsel to interpret the rules, investigate complaints and recommend sanctions.· We suggest ten golden rules for exam revision, but like all rules, they need to be interpreted flexibly.· Those who apply the rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret that rule.· That apparently has resulted in lobbyists interpreting the rules on their own.· Initially, we had interpreted the rule as requiring production of the Report itself.· The Chair, interprets and enforces the rules of the meeting.
► sign· For the benefit of the deaf members present the Dean's and all subsequent speeches were interpreted into sign language.· Indeed, a request for more precision would likely be interpreted as a sign of immaturity or inexperience.· He tried to slow her down with gestures which she interpreted as signs of denial, and so she poured it on.
► signal· This experiment showed how important learning can be in interpreting a signal.· Volatile and unpredictable exchange rates result in difficulties in interpreting the market's signals.· This system could interpret the nerve signals precisely enough to pick up the fine arm movement needed to land a plane safely.
► text· A feminist might interpret a text very differently from an army officer, for example; or a teenager from his parent.· This was supposed to be an upper-level class, and the students seemed unable to interpret a perfectly simple text.· They naturally assume coherence, and interpret the text in the light of that assumption.· Cultural acts and rituals could be interpreted as texts which reveal the sense of a society's ordering and structuring of experience.· There must always be a danger in interpreting an ambiguous text.
► way· This can be interpreted in two ways.· Even when some superstar analyst discovers a winning way to interpret data, others follow, and the method becomes obsolete.· The second way to interpret the story carries little Messianic significance at all.· There are two main ways of interpreting them and these will be discussed below.· Recent developments in game theory have had an important impact on the way we interpret these models.· This regular correlation influences the way we interpret statements in academic papers.· But there are two ways of interpreting the high level of agreements being reached between farmer and park authority.
► ways· This can be interpreted in two ways.· There are two main ways of interpreting them and these will be discussed below.· But this us to ignore wider questions relating to visual communication amid ways in which we interpret photographs.· But there are two ways of interpreting the high level of agreements being reached between farmer and park authority.· I am now going to offer you five ways of interpreting the cross.· In the next section we will examine union policies on this issue and the ways they have been interpreted in signed agreements.
► word· It is for the courts to interpret those words soas to give effect to that purpose.· Today we interpret the word axiom differently.· This is probably true; but we can now see that we must not interpret this word magic too uncritically.· They could interpret the word law in a more pragmatic or policy oriented sense.
VERB► help· Such information helps archaeologists to interpret excavated evidence more accurately.· He is counseled by a sports psychologist who helps him interpret and banish negative, self-defeating feelings.· A good counsellor helps them to interpret the meaning behind the words each speaks.· The counsellor is helped in interpreting this complex situation by the generality of family behaviour.· Perhaps he can be helped to interpret the events as less threatening.· It was written to help students interpret the results of their fieldwork by providing the essential background information.· We have presented guidelines to help decision makers interpret league tables as currently presented.· We use this information to help us interpret our surroundings and the events we observe or participate in.
► need· The central set of skills which are needed are interpreting, translation and the complementary skills for service providers.· Process control has reams of output data that need organizing and interpreting.· We suggest ten golden rules for exam revision, but like all rules, they need to be interpreted flexibly.· All tests on products for overseas markets need to be interpreted with caution.· And in general, student opinion needs to be interpreted with caution.· It needs another stage to interpret its output and locate the zero-crossing it may have encoded.· A distance scale is needed in interpreting the coordinates and this is what the metric equation provides.· Figures also need to be interpreted.
► try· If you try and interpret the public mood, you become a bit of a slave.· No one knew exactly what inspired her elliptic comments, and her relations had long since given up trying to interpret them.· And, gazing back, Pumfrey tried to interpret, from his expression, the implications of that last remark.· It is indeed dangerous to try to interpret the facts of history in the light of a modern theological problem.· And since I have that type of handicap, I try to interpret it as best as I can.· To understand brain and behaviour means rejecting that dichotomy and instead trying to interpret the intertwined dialectic of specificity and plasticity.
► understand· The emphasis here is on the individual's capacity to understand and interpret what other individuals mean by their social actions.· Participation is in essence really only a refinement on the methods used to reflexively understand and interpret in everyday life.
WORD FAMILYnouninterpretationinterpreteradjectiveinterpretativeinterpretiveverbinterpret
1[intransitive, transitive] to translate spoken words from one language into another: They spoke good Spanish, and promised to interpret for me.2[transitive] to believe that something someone does or something that happens has a particular meaninginterpret something as something His refusal to work late was interpreted as a lack of commitment to the company.3[transitive] to explain the meaning of something: Freud’s attempts to interpret the meaning of dreams4[transitive] to perform a part in a play, a piece of music etc in a way that shows your feelings about it or what you think it means