interpreter

[in-tur-pri-ter]

noun

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.

interpreter

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• interpretership noun
• interpretress noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of interpreter¹

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

Example Sentences

A deaf man who spent 24 hours in hospital without the support of an interpreter said staff were shouting out his name despite being told he could not hear.

From BBC

“I love that you were able to discern that, that it gives off a different vibe, because that was exactly our aim. So thank you,” Yamazaki, through interpreter Yoshiko Okura, told Salon.

From Salon

"World Leaders, unless they used the interpreters' earpieces, couldn't hear a thing," he added.

From BBC

It covers a range of things like paying for taxis, assistive technology and British Sign Language interpreters.

From BBC

All the defendants were aided by an interpreter in court.

From BBC

Related Words

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