Etymologically
Log in

interpreter

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 07:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɪnˈtɜː.pɹɪ.tə/[1]
  • US: /ɪnˈtɝ.pɹɪ.tɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English interpretour,[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Anglo-Norman interpretour (“translator”),[6][3] the Anglo-Norman form of Old French interpreteur, also entrepreteur,[3][7][8] from Late Latin interpretātor (“an explainer, interpreter”), a word of Tertullian,[3][8][4] the agent noun of Latin interpretor (“to explain, expound”).[3][8][4] The Latin verb comes from interpres (“agent, go-between, translator”), from inter (“between”).[8] Watkins and de Vaan derive its second part from different roots of the form Proto-Indo-European *per-: Watkins from one meaning to traffic in or sell, de Vaan from one meaning to lead or pass over.[8] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1155–60, also as enterpretour.[6] In the 16th century the ending was made -er, like that of other agent nouns,[3][5] and Merriam-Webster takes the Middle English word as formed from interpreten with the suffix -our.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who translates between speakers of different languages: in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible, about 1384.[3][8] The MED also has the sense of an expounder or teacher in the later Wycliffite version.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English an interpreter was also a translator of written texts (from about 1400 to 1797) and an official expounder of laws, scripture or mysteries (about 1425 to 1678).[3][2] From 1490, in Caxton, it was a title of Mercury as messenger of the gods, after Virgil's Latin, and in 1589 Puttenham used it in rhetoric for explaining one expression by another.[3] The general sense, one who explains something in a particular way, is recorded from 1531, in Elyot;[3] Johnson (1755) gave it first, as "an explainer; an expositor".[9] From 1607 to 1672 it was a common title of books explaining technical terms, beginning with John Cowell's law dictionary.[3] In the 20th century it was used of a punched-card machine that prints the meaning of the holes (1936), of a person who interprets aerial photographs (1950) and of a computer program that translates and runs another program one statement at a time (1954).[3][10]

Timeline

  • c. 1384 – one who translates for speakers of different languages.[3]
  • c. 1400 – a translator of books (obsolete by 1797).[3]
  • c. 1425 – an official expounder of laws or texts (obsolete by 1678).[3]
  • 1490 – a title of Mercury, messenger of the gods (obsolete).[3]
  • 1531 – one who explains or interprets something.[3]
  • 1607 – a title of glossaries of technical terms.[3]
  • 1936 – a machine that prints the meaning of punched holes on a card.[3]
  • 1954 – in computing, a program that executes another program statement by statement.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who translates speech from one language into another, especially orally and as an occupation: The minister spoke through an interpreter.[10][5][3]
  2. A person who explains or expounds the meaning of something.[5][3]
  3. A performer or critic who interprets the work of others, such as a piece of music.[10][5]
  4. In computing, a program that translates and runs another program one statement at a time.[10][3]
  5. (obsolete, c. 1425–1678) An official expounder of laws, scripture or other texts; a commentator.[3][2][7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins