From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishinterpretin‧ter‧pret /ɪnˈtɜːprɪt $ -ɜːr-/ ●●○ W3 AWL verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]TRANSLATE to translate spoken words from one language into another They spoke good Spanish, and promised to interpret for me.2 [transitive]MEANING to believe that something someone does or something that happens has a particular meaninginterpret something as something His refusal to work late was interpreted as a lack of commitment to the company.3 [transitive]MEANING to explain the meaning of something Freud’s attempts to interpret the meaning of dreams4 [transitive]APSHOW A FEELING OR ATTITUDE to perform a part in a play, a piece of music etc in a way that shows your feelings about it or what you think it means→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
interpret• No one in our tour group spoke Spanish so we had to ask the guide to interpret.• The data has not yet been interpreted.• The statement was interpreted as a threat against the United States.• I had to interpret for my boss on the last trip to Japan.• During lunch, Ben interpreted for Sasha, who didn't speak a word of English.• How would you interpret her letter? Is she really hostile or just being ironic?• I interpreted her silence as anger.• An artist has as much right to interpret history as a historian.• This dream can be interpreted in several different ways.• Fairy tales can be interpreted in several different ways.• For the school's deaf students, she interpreted the entire play in American Sign Language.• They are worried that the workers might interpret the new law as a restriction of their rights.• We'll have to find someone who speaks Chinese to interpret the questions and answers for our guests.interpret something as something• Differences in the way people are treated can be interpreted as evidence of discrimination.Origin interpret (1300-1400) French interpréter, from Latin interpretari, from interpres “someone who explains or translates” 