All 7 Uses of
interpret
in
Atlas Shrugged
- Our modern laws are elastic and open to interpretation according to ....circumstances.†
Chpt 2.8 *interpretation = a particular understanding or explanation
- It's for you to interpret.†
Chpt 2.1
- Mr. Rearden, you do not know these people's way of doing business or how they interpret your presence here.†
Chpt 2.2
- But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted-and you create a nation of law-breakers-and then you cash in on guilt.†
Chpt 2.3 *
- Some made no comment at all, but turned away, their faces showing a peculiar resentment under the effort to appear noncommittal, as if they feared that the mere act of looking at him would be interpreted as taking a stand.†
Chpt 2.4
- He could not interpret the sound of her voice, it was low, it was part-moan, part-chuckle, part-triumph-but it was the first sound of emotion to come from her, and he plunged on, with no choice but to hope.†
Chpt 3.3
- She told herself that she could not condemn without understanding, that she knew nothing about his world, that the extent of her ignorance was the extent to which she misinterpreted his actions.†
Chpt 3.4misinterpreted = wrongly translatedstandard prefix: The prefix "mis-" in misinterpreted means wrong and reverses the meaning of interpreted. This is the same pattern you see in words like misunderstand, misbehave, and misuse.
Definitions:
-
(1)
(interpret as in: interpret Spanish to English) to translate words into spoken words of another language
(This word is especially used in place of translate when the translation is done real-time, or on-the-fly, or immediately as needed.) -
(2)
(interpret as in: her interpretation of the data) to understand or explain something in a particular way -- often the meaning or significance of something
-
(3)
(interpret as in: her musical interpretation) capture someone else's ideas, or express personal artistic ideas or feelings while performing someone else's work