interpretive

[in-tur-pri-tiv]

adjective

1. serving to interpret; explanatory.

2. deduced by interpretation.

3. made because of interpretation.

   an interpretive distortion of language.

4. of or relating to those arts that require an intermediary, as a performer, for realization, as in music or theater.

5. offering interpretations, explanations, or guidance, as through lectures, brochures, or films.

   the museum's interpretive center.

Other Word Forms

• interpretively adverb
• noninterpretive adjective
• noninterpretively adverb
• noninterpretiveness noun
• self-interpretive adjective
• uninterpretive adjective
• uninterpretively adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of interpretive¹

First recorded in 1670–80; interpret + -ive

Example Sentences

Her group offers interpretive services through a third party.

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ROSS, Calif. — On a sunny morning, 17 students from a preschool here in Marin huddle as close as possible to furloughed interpretive park ranger Adrian Boone of the Muir Woods National Monument.

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Still, he and other textualists see the turn to dictionaries as an important corrective to interpretive excesses of the past.

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In the intervening years, interpretive speculation about it has run rampant.

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More than 600 staffers — including interpretive park rangers, biologists, firefighters and fee collectors — are now represented by the National Federation of Federal Employees.

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Related Words

• analytical 
• informative