in ‧ ter ‧ pret W3 AC /ɪnˈtɜːprət, ɪnˈtɜːprɪt $ -ɜːr-/ BrE AmE verb
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ interpretation , ↑ interpreter ; adjective : ↑ interpretative , ↑ interpretive ; verb : ↑ interpret ]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: interpréter , from Latin interpretari , from interpres 'someone who explains or translates' ]
1 . [intransitive and 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 meaning
interpret 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 dreams
4 . [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
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THESAURUS
▪ translate verb [intransitive and transitive] to change written or spoken words into another language:
She has translated a number of his books.
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Michael Meyer translated the play from the original Norwegian.
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Can you translate this into French?
▪ interpret verb [intransitive and 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.
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We'll have to find someone who speaks Chinese to interpret the questions and answers for our guests.
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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?
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I had to put a list of Japanese words into English.