interpreter

American  

[in-tur-pri-ter] / ɪnˈtɜr prɪ tər /

noun

• interpreters
  plural

1. a person who interprets.

2. a person who provides an oral translation between speakers who speak different languages.

3. Computers.

   1. hardware or software that transforms one statement at a time of a program written in a high-level language into a sequence of machine actions and executes the statement immediately before going on to transform the next statement.

   2. an electromechanical device that reads the patterns of holes in punched cards and prints the same data on the cards, so that they can be read more conveniently by people.

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interpreter British  

/ ɪnˈtɜːprɪtə /

noun

1. a person who translates orally from one language into another

2. a person who interprets the work of others

3. computing

   1. a program that translates a second program to machine code one statement at a time and causes the execution of the resulting code as soon as the translation is completed

   2. a machine that interprets the holes in a punched card and prints the corresponding characters on that card

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interpretership
  noun
• interpretress
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• interpreters
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of interpreter

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English interpretour, from Anglo-French; equivalent to interpret + -er ²

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Explanation

An interpreter is someone who translates something to make it understandable, usually spoken language. When your class takes a trip to Russia, you’ll likely have an interpreter to translate Russian to English so you can understand what people are saying to you. Need to talk to someone who doesn't speak your language? You'll need an interpreter. Say you're interviewing a Bulgarian diplomat, but you don't speak Bulgarian. The interpreter would listen to a few sentences in Bulgarian and then repeat them in English, and then listen to your English response and repeat that in Bulgarian. We also use interpreter for artists who represent ideas or places in their work. If you paint industrial cityscapes, you're an interpreter of urban life.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

interpreter interpreters

As it came close to expiring, she says an immigration interpreter helped her apply for asylum on the grounds she was facing threats from lenders in Sri Lanka.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

James Fleurijean, the center’s office assistant and interpreter, paced back and forth from the main room to his small side office, fielding questions.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

“Hard to tell at this point,” the 32-year-old Ohtani said in Japanese, via interpreter Will Ireton.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Severinov, giving evidence through an interpreter, said he was repairing bikes and e-bikes.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

“He asks, are you happy,” says the interpreter.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

What to know: The director Mike Flanagan has become one of the pre-eminent Stephen King interpreters in recent years with his film adaptations of “Doctor Sleep” and “The Life of Chuck.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

It’s no surprise that multiple language interpreters will be on set, says Bernad.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026

It is anticipated that the services introduced under the bill - such as more translators and interpreters - will cost about £3m a year.

From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026

But feelings soon thawed and the two great TV interpreters of animal behaviour eventually became friends.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026

More and more, mistrusting his interpreters, he tries to speak in Kikongo.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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