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

Etymology

Origin of interpreter

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

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

The workers traveled to Russia in groups, accompanied by a director, cook, interpreter, doctor and a foreman, she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

North Korean workers in Russia typically live in dormitories next to production facilities, said Alisa Svitova, a 21-year-old student who worked this year as an interpreter for North Korean laborers in Russian agricultural factories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

“Once I had him with two strikes I said, you know what, I’m going to throw that slider,” Yan said through an interpreter after the Mets’ 6-5 victory in 10 innings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

"Coming from a modest background, success has never led him to abandon his principles or his values," adds Lamrani, who also worked as Marcelo Bielsa's disciplinary coach and interpreter at Leeds United.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Jiichan was telling them about some Australian occupation troops in Hiroshima, that maybe they could hire Papa as an interpreter.

From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata

But by August, a Russian job site was seeking Korean-language interpreters for Wildberries warehouses, suggesting that North Koreans would continue to be part of the company’s workforce.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 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

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026

I visited the exhibit and found a fascinating deep-dive not into our country’s history, but into how we remember it, including through the work of the dramatic interpreters that are the museum’s main attraction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

The film was rushed back to the United States and analyzed by expert photo interpreters in Washington.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• artist
• commentator
• editor
• exponent
• linguist
• philosopher
• scholar
• writer