Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who translates orally from one language into another.
  • noun One who gives or expounds an interpretation.
  • noun Computers A program that executes other programs.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who or that which interprets; one who explains or expounds; an expositor; a translator; especially, one who explains what is said in a different language.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who or that which interprets, explains, or expounds; a translator; especially, a person who translates orally between two parties.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who listens to a speaker in one language and relates that utterance to the audience in a different language. Contrasted with translator.
  • noun figuratively One who explains something, such as an art exhibit.
  • noun computing A program which executes another program written in a programming language other than machine code.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (computer science) a program that translates and executes source language statements one line at a time
  • noun someone who mediates between speakers of different languages
  • noun an advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose
  • noun someone who uses art to represent something

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Latin interpretor ("to explain, expound, understand"), from interpres ("agent, translator").

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