Interpretive means ‘about explaining or showing the meaning of something’. A museum can have interpretive signs that help you understand what you are looking at. An interpretive dance tries to show a feeling or a story with the body, not with a lot of words. In school, an interpretive question asks you to say what a text means, not just copy a line. The word is a little formal. British English often uses interpretative, with an extra ‘ta’ in the middle; American English likes interpretive. Both carry the same idea. Though actually, it is not the same as interpreted. Interpreted is the past of the verb: something already explained. Interpretive describes the kind of work — work whose job is to explain.