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

“I want them to be connected with the sense of nature, of humanity and what it means to have a life,” Phuphong said through an interpreter.

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A block away from Hollywood Career College is a workers’ center run by the Thai Community Development Center that provides connections to attorneys, therapists and interpreters, particularly during interactions with police.

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They decided to wait for a Thai interpreter.

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In July 2024, two men walked into his office holding guns, he testified with the help of a Mandarin interpreter.

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“Even if I didn’t like the character or story that he posed, I would’ve still participated because it’s director Park. He has another level of storytelling,” says Lee, speaking, like Park, through an interpreter.

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Related Words

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