interpret
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
9 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "interpret", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "interpret" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "interpret" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
interpret is aEnglishverb. It means: To decode the meaning of a topic and then act, whether to continue researching the topic, follow through, act in opposition, or further the understanding through sharing an interpretation. Pronounced /ɪnˈtɜː.pɹɪt/. It ranks #9,486 in English word frequency. Often confused with interred and interpreted.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | interpret |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɪnˈtɜː.pɹɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #9,486 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for interpret is 9 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪnˈtɜː.pɹɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,486 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for interpret, with forms such as "inetrpret", "innterpret", and "inteprret". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "interred", "interpreted", "interpreter", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English interpreten, from Old French enterpreter, (French interpréter), from Latin interpretor (“to explain, expound, interpret”), past participle interpretatus, from interpres (“an agent, broker, explainer, interpreter, negotiator”), from inter… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is interpret, spelled I-N-T-E-R-P-R-E-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To decode the meaning of a topic and then act, whether to continue researching the topic, follow through, act in opposition, or further the understanding through sharing an interpretation.
- 2To explain or tell the meaning of; to translate orally into intelligible or familiar language or terms. applied especially to language, but also to dreams, signs, conduct, mysteries, etc.
- 3To apprehend and represent by means of art; to show by illustrative representation
- 4To convey what a user of one language is saying or signing, in real time or shortly after that person has finished communicating, to a user of a different language
- 5To analyse or execute (a program) by reading the instructions as they are encountered, rather than compiling in advance.
Etymology
From Middle English interpreten, from Old French enterpreter, (French interpréter), from Latin interpretor (“to explain, expound, interpret”), past participle interpretatus, from interpres (“an agent, broker, explainer, interpreter, negotiator”), from inter (“between”) + -pres, probably the root of pretium (“price”); -pres is probably connected with Ancient Greek φράζειν (phrázein, “to point out, show, explain, declare, speak”), from which φραδή (phradḗ, “understanding”), φράσις (phrásis, “speech”); see phrase.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: inetrpret,innterpret,inteprret,interpert,interppret,interprett,interprret,interprte,interrpet,interrpret,intrepret,intterpret,itnerpret,niterpret
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for interpret
Misspelling Variants of "interpret"
Frequency rank: #9,486 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter I in our English index: