interpret
/ɪnˈtəːprɪt
/verb (interprets, interpreting, interpreted) [with object]
1Explain the meaning of (information or actions): the evidence is difficult to interpret...
- A statistician assisted in interpreting the information.
- Most of the staff quoted in the book wanted to understand numerical measures of risk, and they reported feelings of inadequacy at the difficulties they had in interpreting information for patients.
- While the situations for each are different, they all illustrate a discrepancy between the sensory input and how the brain interprets the information.
Synonyms
explain, elucidate, expound, explicate, clarify, make clear, make plain, illuminate, shed light on, throw light on;
gloss, simplify, spell out
decipher, decode, solve, resolve, untangle, unravel, make intelligible;
understand, comprehend, make sense of
informal crack
1.1Understand (an action, mood, or way of behaving) as having a particular meaning: he would no longer interpret her silence as indifference...
- I have stressed, in the end, on prosperity but that should in no way be interpreted as a materialistic tendency.
- The atmosphere was very tense and what we saw as youthful excitement was interpreted as unacceptable disrespect.
- I favour using beads or bits of cake, but this will no doubt be interpreted as a suggestion that maths should be dumbed down.
Synonyms
understand, construe, take to mean, take, read, see, regard, explain
1.2Perform (a dramatic role or piece of music) in a way that conveys one’s understanding of the creator’s ideas: interpreting the music well takes hours of listening and experimentation...
- As an artist, she had to perform and interpret the role - even to the extent of singing the odd song in German or French.
- He was seldom content to interpret music safely, and he hardly ever played a piece, a phrase, or even a note the same way twice.
- The strength of Timocheko's work lay in her virtuosity of performance and great ability to interpret music.
Synonyms
portray, depict, present, perform, execute, enact, render
2 [no object] Translate orally or into sign language the words of a person speaking a different language: I agreed to interpret for Jean-Claude...
- Pupils are also failing to realise that languages not only lead to jobs in interpreting, translating and teaching, but are becoming increasingly important to doctors, dentists and engineers.
- It was written in a language he couldn't interpret, but he recognized the word ‘Lavender’.
- The meaning of the phrase may not be immediately evident to the average reader; but the scholar who on those grounds removes it does not translate but interprets.
Synonyms
translate, transcribe, transliterate, rewrite, convert;
paraphrase
Derivatives
interpretability
- Given the good fit of the CFA and the interpretability of the correlations among the constructs, the second-order structural model was used to test hypotheses.
- While there are often alternative analytical approaches that result in equivalent analyses with respect to interpretation of results, it is also the case that inappropriate analysis may limit interpretability.
- Concluded that this was the best fitting and most parsimonious model for their data, a conclusion that implies the interpretability of an overall involvement score as well as scores within particular domains of involvement.
interpretable
/ adjective ...- The first 13 factors appeared interpretable and explained 54% of the common variance.
- Factor analysis showed the ten multiple intelligences fell into three interpretable factors which were predicted by both gender and test experience.
- Of course there is no such thing as a universally interpretable pictogram.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French interpreter or Latin interpretari 'explain, translate', from interpres, interpret- 'agent, translator, interpreter'.