interpreter

[in-tur-pri-ter]

See more synonyms for interpreter on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person who interprets.
a person who provides an oral translation between speakers who speak different languages.
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.Compare compiler(def 2).
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.

Origin of interpreter

1350–1400; Middle English interpretour < Anglo-French; see interpret, -er²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for interpreter

scholar, artist, writer, philosopher, linguist, commentator, exponent, editor, spokesperson, professor, guide, critic, speaker, delegate, reviewer, analyst, expositor, decoder, exegete, biographer

Examples from the Web for interpreter

Contemporary Examples of interpreter

Shadman started as a laborer, but within a year became an interpreter because he could speak English.
Special Forces’ $77M ‘Hustler’ Hits Back
Kevin Maurer
December 8, 2014
Our Pashto interpreter explained how he had pretended to be a Pakistani policeman when interested crowds approached the compound.
I Shot Bin Laden
Elliot Ackerman
November 16, 2014
The grunt takes a hard look at our interpreter, rotates his M16 and opens the vehicle door, motioning for us to get out.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley
Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman
November 15, 2014
But he continued to study English every day and eventually was accepted as an interpreter.
Obama Went to War to Save Them, But They Can’t Get U.S. Visas
Christine van den Toorn, Sherizaan Minwalla
September 28, 2014
Follow the latest with the liveblog of The Interpreter, a website covering Russian media and the war in Ukraine.
Live Updates on the Battle Over MH17
The Daily Beast
July 19, 2014

Historical Examples of interpreter

In such a case the larger community would be the interpreter.
Understanding the Scriptures
Francis McConnell
It was, indeed, necessary for me to converse by the medium of an interpreter.
In the Heart of Vosges
Matilda Betham-Edwards
I went among them, accompanied only by an interpreter, and asked where their sultan and elders were.
Freeland
Theodor Hertzka
What my private sentiments are, you will find out without an interpreter.
The Letters of Robert Burns
Robert Burns
The interpreter, his countryman, called these Portuguese 'white gentlemen.'
The History of the First West India Regiment
A. B. Ellis

British Dictionary definitions for interpreter

interpreter

noun

a person who translates orally from one language into another
a person who interprets the work of others
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

Derived Formsinterpretership, nouninterpretress, fem n

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

Word Origin and History for interpreter

"one who translates spoken languages; a translator of written texts," late 14c., from Old French interpreteor, from Late Latin interpretatorem, agent noun from interpretari (see interpret).