interpret: Meaning and Definition of

in•ter•pret

1. to give or provide the meaning of; explain; explicate; elucidate: to interpret the hidden meaning of a parable.
2. to construe or understand in a particular way: to interpret a reply as favorable.
3. to bring out the meaning of (a dramatic work, music, etc.) by performance or execution.
4. to perform or render (a song, role in a play, etc.) according to one's own understanding or sensitivity: The actor interpreted Lear as a weak, pitiful old man.
5. to translate orally.
1. to transform (a program written in a high-level language) with an interpreter into a sequence of machine actions, one statement at a time, executing each statement immediately before going on to transform the next one.
2. to read (the patterns of holes in punched cards) with an interpreter, printing the interpreted data on the same cards so that they can be read more conveniently by people. Cf. interpreter (def. 3).

1. to translate what is said in a foreign language.
2. to explain something; give an explanation.