Synonyms

interpret

American

[in-tur-prit] / ɪnˈtɜr prɪt /

verb (used with object)

to give or provide the meaning of; explain; explicate; elucidate.

to interpret the hidden meaning of a parable.
to construe or understand in a particular way.

to interpret a reply as favorable.
to bring out the meaning of (a dramatic work, music, etc.) by performance or execution.
to perform or render (a song, role in a play, etc.) according to one's own understanding or sensitivity.

The actor interpreted Lear as a weak, pitiful old man.
to translate orally.
Computers.
1. to use an interpreter to transform (a program written in a high-level language) into a sequence of machine actions, one statement at a time, executing each statement immediately before going on to transform the next one.
2. to read (the patterns of holes in punched cards) with an interpreter, printing the interpreted data on the same cards so that they can be read more conveniently by people.

verb (used without object)

to translate what is said in a foreign language.
to explain something; give an explanation.

interpret British

/ ɪnˈtɜːprɪt /

verb

(tr) to clarify or explain the meaning of; elucidate
(tr) to construe the significance or intention of

to interpret a smile as an invitation
(tr) to convey or represent the spirit or meaning of (a poem, song, etc) in performance
(intr) to act as an interpreter; translate orally

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What are other ways to say interpret?

To interpret is to give or provide the meaning of something, or to construe or understand something in a particular way. What’s the difference between interpret, elucidate, expound, and explain? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of interpret

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English interpreten, from Latin interpretārī, derivative of interpret-, stem of interpres “explainer”

Explanation

When you interpret something, you make sense of it. You could interpret a graph, a foreign language, or even Mona Lisa's odd smile. If you're ordering food in a foreign land, you may need someone to interpret the menu for you. When you get tripped up or struggle to understand a subject even in your own language — like calculus, for example — sometimes you can find meaning, or interpret it for yourself. Or sometimes you'll need a teacher to work on the problem with you, showing how to interpret the mathematical language.

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Vocabulary lists containing interpret

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

interpret interprets interpreted interpreting

Dogs normally interpret people using many signals at once, including facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and scent.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

After meeting at secondary school in Mexico the two went on to work together on research projects that have revealed how dogs interpret and respond to human language and behaviour.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

For Barton, the red card illustrates something he believes the public still misunderstands: VAR does not eliminate the need for the referee to interpret the rules.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Roughly a third of adults turn to AI chatbots for health advice, and 19% use AI specifically to interpret lab results or medical tests, according to a 2026 poll from health policy research nonprofit KFF.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

I stood in awe as Mitra casually greeted him and told him how cool it was to hear a writer interpret his own words aloud.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

A "reasoning model" trained on task-specific examples interprets the goal and formulates Phantom's action plan.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

AI software the company calls Hyperintuition interprets your movements to deliver the right force.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

It interprets Coachella as a cultural event, deciding what matters, where to look, and how the festival is ultimately remembered.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026

Huber interprets Zuckerberg’s statement as a sign that nobody really knows how and when these massive investments will pay off — not even the leaders of the companies doing the spending.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 7, 2026

For the King, or at least this is how Malory interprets him, was the patron saint of chivalry.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

The distinction matters, because the show’s curators, the Art Institute’s Kevin Salatino and Mel Becker Solomon, have interpreted De Kooning’s lifelong practice of drawing in the broadest possible terms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

The researchers interpreted this pattern as a sign of more efficient brain function.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026

The announcement of increased capex at SpaceX was interpreted negatively by traders and investors.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Khokhar describes this as "vague" and raises questions about how it might be interpreted.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

They interpreted the weak sources as being the more distant ones, and the stronger ones as being nearer.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

Gustavo Duque, mayor of Chacao, a middle-class Caracas neighbourhood, urges caution in interpreting the red sign too simply.

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

But these views deserve no weight in interpreting the amendments’ transformative guarantees.

From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026

Once you have isolated the pure news about a company, there are several rules for interpreting it.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 4, 2026

Researchers search for clues that could point to living organisms, but interpreting those clues is rarely straightforward.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 30, 2026

They gathered around the pod and touched it delicately with those powerful, flexible trunks, and she found herself interpreting the soft chirrups and clicks and hoots they were making as expressions of disapproval.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023