From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Interpret \In*ter"pret\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Interpreted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Interpreting}.] [F. interpr[^e]ter, L. interpretari, p. p. interpretatus, fr. interpres interpeter, agent, negotiator; inter between + (prob.) the root of pretium price. See {Price}.]
1. To explain or tell the meaning of; to expound; to translate orally into intelligible or familiar language or terms; to decipher; to define; -- applied esp. to language, but also to dreams, signs, conduct, mysteries, etc.; as, to interpret the Hebrew language to an Englishman; to interpret an Indian speech.
Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. --Matt. i. 23.
And Pharaoh told them his dreams; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh. --Gen. xli. 8.
2. To apprehend and represent by means of art; to show by illustrative representation; as, an actor interprets the character of Hamlet; a musician interprets a sonata; an artist interprets a landscape.
Syn: To translate; explain; solve; render; expound; elucidate; decipher; unfold; unravel.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Interpret \In*ter"pret\, verb (used without an object) To act as an interpreter. --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
verb
1: make sense of; assign a meaning to; "What message do you see in this letter?"; "How do you interpret his behavior?" [syn: {construe}, {see}]
2: give an interpretation or explanation to
3: give an interpretation or rendition of; "The pianist rendered the Beethoven sonata beautifully" [syn: {render}]
4: create an image or likeness of; "The painter represented his wife as a young girl" [syn: {represent}]
5: restate (words) from one language into another language; "I have to translate when my in-laws from Austria visit the U.S."; "Can you interpret the speech of the visiting dignitaries?"; "She rendered the French poem into English"; "He translates for the U.N." [syn: {translate}, {render}]
6: make sense of a language; "She understands French"; "Can you read Greek?" [syn: {understand}, {read}, {translate}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
88 Moby Thesaurus words for "interpret": accompany, annotate, answer, bottom, chord, clarify, clear up, comment, commentate, concertize, construe, crack, debug, decipher, decode, define, delineate, depict, describe, diagnose, disentangle, divine, do, dope, dope out, elucidate, execute, exemplify, explain, explicate, expound, fathom, figure out, find out, find the answer, find the solution, get, get right, gloss, guess, guess right, have it, hit it, illuminate, illustrate, image, limn, make music, make out, open the lock, paraphrase, perform, picture, play, play by ear, plumb, portray, psych, psych out, puzzle out, ravel, ravel out, read, read into, render, resolve, riddle, simplify, solve, sort out, spell out, symphonize, take, take it that, take to mean, translate, understand, understand by, undo, unlock, unravel, unriddle, unscramble, untangle, untwist, unweave, work, work out
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