Word: interpreter Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English interpreter, interpretour, etc., from Old French interpreteur, interpreteeur, etc., from Late Latin interpretātōr, from classical Latin interpretātus (“explained, translated”) + -or (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from interpretārī (“to explain, to translate”), from interpres (“go-between, translator”) + -ārī (“to be ~ed”), q.v. In reference to divine emissaries, a calque of Mercury's Latin epithet interpres divum (“go-between of the gods”). In reference to the rhetorical device, a calque of Latin interpretatio. Equivalent to interpret + -er. Displaced native Old English wealhstod. Pronunciation: /ɪnˈtɜː.pɹɪ.tə/, /ɪnˈtɝ.pɹɪ.tɚ/, [ɪnˈtɝ.pɹɪ.ɾɚ] 1. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another, particularly Example: ... an interpreter of dreams ... Example: […] the Priest or Medicine-man […] early appeared on the plantation and found his function as the healer of the sick, the interpreter of the Unknown […] and the one who rudely but picturesquely expressed the longing, disappointment, and resentment of a stolen and oppressed people. 2. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Example: A Japanese man who is tried before a German court is assisted by an interpreter in making oral statements. Example: ... when you ſallie vpon him, ſpeake what terrible Language you will: though you vnderſtand it not your ſelues, no matter: for we must not ſeeme to vnderſtand him, vnleſſe ſome one among vs, whom wee must produce for an Interpreter. 3. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Labels: obsolete 4. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Labels: obsolete Example: ... the holy fathers interpretours of holy scrypture ... Example: Then said Christian to the Interpreter, Expound this matter more fully to me. 5. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Labels: obsolete 6. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Labels: uncommon Example: At the historic site, there are a number of interpreters who demonstrate ancient crafts. Example: A severe interpreter might say that the mere facts of their relation to each other, the melancholy position of this woman who depended on his will, made a standing banquet for his delight in dominating. 7. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Labels: figuratively Example: Leo. ... theſe thy offices (So rarely kind) are as Interpreters Of my behind-hand ſlackneſſe. Example: Flowers are the interpreters of love in India, painting in the most vivid but in the softest colours speaking in the sweetest sighs: while each blossom that fades is a mournful remembrancer either of blighted hopes or departed pleasures. 8. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Labels: obsolete, rhetoric 9. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Labels: obsolete 10. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Labels: historical 11. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Labels: historical 12. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Example: Programs written in BASIC are usually run through an interpreter rather than a compiler. 13. A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another Example: ... one of the foremost interpreters of Beethoven's piano works ...