interpretative
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of interpretative
1560–70; < Latin interpretāt ( us ) past participle of interpretārī to interpret + -ive
Explanation
Something interpretative is helping you understand or make meaning. When you visit a national monument, you might not understand the symbolism until you read the interpretative signs that explain and interpret the monument for visitors. To interpret means "to translate or to explain." If you view an interpretative dance, the performers are interpreting the music with their physical movements. If you have a job working as an interpreter at the UN, you might have the interpretative task of assisting diplomats by translating what is said in one language into a language that another person can understand.
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.
The British cast was different, but Friedman has been building on her understanding of the musical, probing deeper into its secrets and untangling its interpretative knots.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2024
For example, some people still hold on to an interpretative framework known as dispensationalism, which includes the popular concept of the “Rapture.”
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2024
His death occurred just hours after speaking to a Times reporter about hiking in the heat while he took a break for some rare shade under a metal interpretative sign.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 21, 2023
As opposed to the identification of things in the natural sciences, a process limited in possible meanings, discourse possesses endless interpretative possibilities.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
A sonnet is descriptive and interpretative in theme, and it must give at the very least two aspects of interpretations of the emotion, idea, or object with which it deals.
From The Circus, and Other Essays and Fugitive Pieces by Joyce Kilmer
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
