interpreter

/ɪnˈtʌrprədər/

/ɪnˈtʌprətə/

Other forms: interpreters

An interpreter is someone who translates something to make it understandable, usually spoken language. When your class takes a trip to Russia, you’ll likely have an interpreter to translate Russian to English so you can understand what people are saying to you.

Need to talk to someone who doesn't speak your language? You'll need an interpreter. Say you're interviewing a Bulgarian diplomat, but you don't speak Bulgarian. The interpreter would listen to a few sentences in Bulgarian and then repeat them in English, and then listen to your English response and repeat that in Bulgarian. We also use interpreter for artists who represent ideas or places in their work. If you paint industrial cityscapes, you're an interpreter of urban life.

Definitions of interpreter

1. noun

   someone who mediates between speakers of different languages
   synonyms: translator

   examples:

   Edward Fitzgerald

   English poet remembered primarily for his free translation of the poetry of Omar Khayyam (1809-1883)

   Benjamin Jowett

   English classical scholar noted for his translations of Plato and Aristotle (1817-1893)

   William Tindale

   English translator and Protestant martyr; his translation of the Bible into English (which later formed the basis for the King James Version) aroused ecclesiastical opposition; he left England in 1524 and was burned at the stake in Antwerp as a heretic (1494-1536)

   Bishop Ulfilas

   a Christian believed to be of Cappadocian descent who became bishop of the Visigoths in 341 and translated the Bible from Greek into Gothic; traditionally held to have invented the Gothic alphabet (311-382)

   types:

   dragoman

   an interpreter and guide in the Near East; in the Ottoman Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries a translator of European languages for the Turkish and Arab authorities and most dragomans were Greek (many reached high positions in the government)

   symboliser, symbolist, symbolizer

   someone skilled in the interpretation or representation of symbols

   type of:

   go-between, intercessor, intermediary, intermediator, mediator

   a negotiator who acts as a link between parties
2. noun

   (computer science) a program that translates and executes source language statements one line at a time
   synonyms: interpretive program

   type of:

   computer program, computer programme, program, programme

   (computer science) a sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute
3. noun

   someone who uses art to represent something
   “his paintings reveal a sensitive interpreter of nature”

   “she was famous as an interpreter of Shakespearean roles”

   type of:

   individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul

   a human being
4. noun

   an advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose
   synonyms: representative, spokesperson, voice

   types:

   ambassador

   an informal representative

   flack, flack catcher, flak, flak catcher

   a slick spokesperson who can turn any criticism to the advantage of their employer

   mouth, mouthpiece

   a spokesperson (as a lawyer)

   spokesman

   a male spokesperson

   spokeswoman

   a female spokesperson

   bagman, commercial traveler, commercial traveller, roadman, traveling salesman, travelling salesman

   a salesman who travels to call on customers

   tallyman

   one who sells goods on the installment plan

   type of:

   advocate, advocator, exponent, proponent

   a person who pleads for a person, cause, or idea