Interpret Interpreted I Silence Acceptance Refusal Meaning Verb

• the students were asked to interpret the poem.
• i didn't know whether to interpret her silence as acceptance or refusal.
• the data can be interpreted in many different ways.
• she couldn't speak much english so her children had to interpret for her.

interpret

1. to explain the meaning of something
• The students were asked to interpret the poem.
2. to decide that something has a particular meaning and to understand it in this way
• compare misinterpret
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/misinterpret
• I didn't know whether to interpret her silence as acceptance or refusal.
• The data can be interpreted in many different ways.
3. to translate one language into another as you hear it
• She couldn't speak much English so her children had to interpret for her.
4. to perform a piece of music, a role in a play, etc. in a way that shows your feelings about its meaning
• He interpreted the role with a lot of humour.

Extra Examples

• Different people might interpret events differently.
• Her message was interpreted as a warning to the general.
• Her resignation has been widely interpreted as an admission of her guilt.
• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically.
• The figure of the Ancient Mariner has been variously interpreted.
• The strictness of the rules, even when liberally interpreted, has the effect of restricting innovation.
• The term ‘business’ is here interpreted broadly to include all types of organization in the public and private sectors.
• The title could be interpreted to mean ‘human intelligence’.
• These figures cannot be easily interpreted.
• These results must be interpreted cautiously.
• We all seek to interpret what we hear and what we read.
• judges who will faithfully interpret the Constitution
• I didn’t know whether to interpret her silence as acceptance or refusal.
• The figure of the Ancient Mariner in the poem has been variously interpreted.

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they interpret
• he / she / it interprets
• past simple interpreted
• past participle interpreted
• -ing form interpreting

Word Origin

• late Middle English: from Old French interpreter or Latin interpretari ‘explain, translate’, from interpres, interpret- ‘agent, translator, interpreter’.