GC: n

S: Newsdeeply – https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2017/09/20/without-good-interpreters-refugees-are-lost-in-an-information-void (last access: 11 February 2018); UNIGE – http://www.unige.ch/inzone/research/research-areas/humanitarian/humanitarian-interpreting/ (last access: 11 February 2018).

N: 1. “one who translates spoken languages; a translator of written texts,” late 14c., from Old French interpreteor, entrepreteur, from Late Latin interpretator “an explainer,” agent noun from interpretari “explain, expound”.

2. A person whose work is translating a foreign language orally, as in a conversation between people speaking different languages.

3. An interpreter works with spoken words in a particular context, conveying a message from one language to another, while translation refers to the activity of transferring a written text from one language to another.
Neither is simply replacing the words of one language by those of another, and there are similarities in the intellectual effort required. But there are significant differences between interpreting and translating.

4. Collocations:

• Verb + interpreter: act as | speak through. Speaking through an interpreter, a Japanese fisherman gave his account of the tidal wave.
• Preposition: interpreter for. Susan acted as interpreter for us.

5. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention, among many others, a historical figure, and two movies, respectively.

• Sacagawea (c. 1788-1812) was a Shoshone woman who served as a vital interpreter, guide, and cultural negotiator for the 1804–1806 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s expedition westward from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast.
• The Interpreter (2005), directed by Sydney Pollack.
• Charade (1963), directed by Stanley Donens.

S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=interpreter (last access: 11 February 2018 & 18 April 2025). 2. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=interpreter&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 11 February 2018 & 18 April 2025). 3. AIIC – https://aiic.org/site/uk-ie/find_an_interpreter/interpreter_or_translator (last access: 11 February 2018 & 18 April 2025). 4. OZDIC – https://ozdic.com/collocation/interpreter (last access: 11 February 2018). 5. NWHM (last access: 4 February 2026); IMDb https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056923/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_1_in_0_q_Charade, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373926/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1 (last access: 18 April 2025).

SYN:
S:

CR: dragoman, interpretation, translation, translator.