interpret English · revision 39507

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1382, Wycliffite Bible|origins=la interpres}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ɪnˈtɜː.pɹɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ɪnˈtɝ.pɹɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|interpreten]],^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Dictionary.com 2016) [[bor|fro|interpreter|t=to explain; to translate]],^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024) and also directly from [[la|interpretor|t=to explain, expound, translate, understand]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) In Anglo-Norman the verb is found from 1155.^(AND) Barnhart suggests that it may partly be a back-formation from [[interpretation]], recorded a little earlier (probably about 1350).^(Barnhart 1988) The Latin verb is formed on [[m|la|interpres|t=agent, broker, negotiator; explainer, translator]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) from [[m|la|inter|t=between]] and a second element whose origin is disputed.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Klein, Merriam-Webster and Collins connect it with [[m|la|pretium|t=price, value]], and Weekley thought an ''interpres'' was first a helper in bargain-making;^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)^(Weekley 1921) Etymonline reports Watkins's root [[ine-pro|*per-|t=to traffic in, sell]] and de Vaan's view that the root is rather the one meaning "to lead, pass over", comparing [[grc|πόρος|tr=póros|t=passage, way]];^(Etymonline) the OED compares a Sanskrit root meaning "to spread abroad";^(OED 2026) and Hoad calls the element unknown.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To explain the meaning of something obscure or mysterious, such as words, writings or a dream: 1382, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline gives the late 14th century and the sense "expound the meaning of, render clear or explicit".^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in the Wycliffite writings the verb could mean to explain something in a particular way, or to construe actions favourably or unfavourably (c. 1380), and, used intransitively, to give an explanation and specifically to act as an interpreter (c. 1384); the general sense "to translate" is now gone.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) defined it as to explain, translate, decipher and expound, with examples from the story of Joseph in Genesis.^(Johnson 1755) Later senses extend the idea of making out a meaning: to explain something to oneself (1795, in Cowper), to bring out the meaning of a play, piece of music or landscape in performance or art (1880), to read information from aerial photographs (1950), and in computing to execute a program by means of an interpreter (1965).^(OED 2026) A noun ''interpret'', an interpreter, was used once by King James VI in 1584.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1382 – to expound the meaning of something obscure.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – to explain in a particular way; to construe.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1384 – to act as an interpreter.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1530 – to render by a specified term (obsolete by 1690).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1584 – the noun ''interpret'', an interpreter.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1795 – to make out the meaning of, for oneself.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1880 – to bring out the meaning of a work in performance.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1950 – to read information from aerial photographs.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1965 – (computing) to execute a program with an interpreter.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[explain]] the meaning of something: ''Historians still disagree on how to interpret the letter.''^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To understand or take something in a particular way; to [[construe]]: ''She interpreted his silence as consent.''^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To bring out the meaning of a play, piece of music or other work in [[performance]], according to one's own understanding of it.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # To [[translate]] orally between people who speak different languages; to act as an [[interpreter]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # To obtain information from aerial or other photographs.^(OED 2026)

+ # (computing) To execute a program by means of an interpreter.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[interpretability]]

+ * [[interpretable]]

+ * [[interpretably]]

+ * [[preinterpret]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[interpretation]]

+ * [[interpretative]]

+ * [[interpreter]]

+ * [[interpretive]]

+ * [[misinterpret]]

+ * [[reinterpret]]

+ * [[price]]

+ * [[precious]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}