Library / English Dictionary

INTERPRET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make sense of a language

Example:

Can you read Greek?

Synonyms:

interpret; read; translate; understand

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "interpret" is one way to...):

understand (know and comprehend the nature or meaning of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make sense of; assign a meaning to

Example:

How do you interpret his behavior?

Synonyms:

construe; interpret; see

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "interpret" is one way to...):

understand (know and comprehend the nature or meaning of)

Verb group:

consider; reckon; regard; see; view (deem to be)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "interpret"):

draw out; educe; elicit; evoke; extract (deduce (a principle) or construe (a meaning))

read; scan (obtain data from magnetic tapes or other digital sources)

read (interpret something that is written or printed)

read; take (interpret something in a certain way; convey a particular meaning or impression)

allegorise; allegorize (interpret as an allegory)

reinterpret (assign a new or different meaning to)

spiritualise; spiritualize (give a spiritual meaning to; read in a spiritual sense)

literalise; literalize (make literal)

mythicise; mythicize (interpret as a myth or in terms of mythology)

read between the lines (read what is implied but not expressed on the surface)

be amiss; misapprehend; misconceive; misconstrue; misinterpret; misunderstand (interpret in the wrong way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence examples:

They won't interpret the story

Sam and Sue interpret the movie

Derivation:

interpretation (an explanation of something that is not immediately obvious)

interpretation (a mental representation of the meaning or significance of something)

interpretation (an explanation that results from interpreting something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Give an interpretation or explanation to

Synonyms:

interpret; rede

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "interpret" is one way to...):

explain; explicate (make plain and comprehensible)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "interpret"):

moralise; moralize (interpret the moral meaning of)

deconstruct (interpret (a text or an artwork) by the method of deconstructing)

re-explain; reinterpret (interpret from a different viewpoint)

commentate (serve as a commentator, as in sportscasting)

misinterpret (interpret falsely)

annotate; comment; gloss (provide interlinear explanations for words or phrases)

commentate (make a commentary on)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

interpretive (that provides interpretation)

interpreting (an explanation of something that is not immediately obvious)

interpretative (that provides interpretation)

interpretation (an explanation that results from interpreting something)

interpretation (a mental representation of the meaning or significance of something)

interpretation (an explanation of something that is not immediately obvious)

interpretation (the act of interpreting something as expressed in an artistic performance)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Restate (words) from one language into another language

Example:

He translates for the U.N.

Synonyms:

interpret; render; translate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "interpret" is one way to...):

ingeminate; iterate; reiterate; repeat; restate; retell (to say, state, or perform again)

Verb group:

translate (be translatable, or be translatable in a certain way)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "interpret"):

Latinize (translate into Latin)

gloss (provide an interlinear translation of a word or phrase)

mistranslate (translate incorrectly)

retranslate (translate again)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

interpreter ((computer science) a program that translates and executes source language statements one line at a time)

interpreter (someone who mediates between speakers of different languages)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Create an image or likeness of

Example:

The painter represented his wife as a young girl

Synonyms:

interpret; represent

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "interpret" is one way to...):

re-create (create anew)

Domain category:

art; artistic creation; artistic production (the creation of beautiful or significant things)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "interpret"):

chart; graph (represent by means of a graph)

mock up; model (construct a model of)

draw (represent by making a drawing of, as with a pencil, chalk, etc. on a surface)

portray; present (represent abstractly, for example in a painting, drawing, or sculpture)

depict; limn; portray (make a portrait of)

map (make a map of; show or establish the features of details of)

conventionalize; stylise; stylize (represent according to a conventional style)

depict; picture; render; show (show in, or as in, a picture)

capture (succeed in representing or expressing something intangible)

paint (make a painting of)

profile (represent in profile, by drawing or painting)

animalise; animalize (represent in the form of an animal)

silhouette (represent by a silhouette)

carnalize; sensualize (represent materialistically, as in a painting or a sculpture)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

interpretation (the act of interpreting something as expressed in an artistic performance)

interpreter (someone who uses art to represent something)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Give an interpretation or rendition of

Example:

The pianist rendered the Beethoven sonata beautifully

Synonyms:

interpret; render

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "interpret" is one way to...):

do; execute; perform (carry out or perform an action)

Domain category:

performing arts (arts or skills that require public performance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "interpret"):

sing (deliver by singing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They will interpret the duet

Derivation:

interpretation (the act of interpreting something as expressed in an artistic performance)

interpretation (an explanation of something that is not immediately obvious)

interpretative (that provides interpretation)

interpreter (someone who uses art to represent something)

interpretive (that provides interpretation)

Credits

 Context examples: 

These images are then interpreted by a radiologist to determine the presence of several types of abnormalities of the colon.

(Computed tomography colonography, NCI Thesaurus)

The results of subjective evaluation may be difficult to interpret consistently.

(Decreased Peak Expiratory Flowrate, NCI Thesaurus)

The process by which the nature and meaning of sensory stimuli are recognized and interpreted.

(Perception, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

EXAMPLE(S): The results of a white blood cell count may be interpreted as constituting a grade 2 toxicity.

(Performed Clinical Interpretation, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

Specifies whether an interpreted event is abnormal.

(Performed Clinical Interpretation Abnormal Indicator, NCI Thesaurus)

A coded value specifying the intensity of the interpreted event.

(Performed Clinical Interpretation Severity Code, NCI Thesaurus)

In medicine, a set of values that a doctor uses to interpret a patient’s test results.

(Normal range, NCI Dictionary)

A doctor trained in radiology who specializes in creating and interpreting pictures of the nervous system.

(Neuroradiologist, NCI Dictionary)

It was felt that the Heaf test was easier to interpret, with less inter-observer variability, and that less training was required to administer and to read the test.

(Heaf Tuberculin Skin Test, NCI Thesaurus)

In this form of psychotherapy, symbols from the patient's verbalizations, dreams, and interactions are interpreted for meaning in their everyday lives.

(Interpretive Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)