The same fifteen words as the cards above, written out in full — easy to scan, search or print.

translateB1verb

to change words from one language into another

Colonel Weber asks Louise to translate a recording of an unearthly noise.

interpretB2verb

to translate speech aloud as somebody speaks, or to work out what something means

Louise and Ian are assigned to interpret the visitors, in both senses of the word.

word for wordB2phrase

exactly as it was said or written, with nothing added or left out

The military want every message rendered word for word, which Louise says is the wrong ambition.

make yourself understoodB2phrase

to succeed in getting your meaning across, even clumsily

Louise holds up a whiteboard reading HUMAN to make herself understood.

ambiguousC1adjective

having more than one possible meaning

Every heptapod symbol proves ambiguous, so Louise must establish which meaning is intended.

lost in translationB2idiom

when meaning, or beauty, disappears as something travels from one language into another

Much of what the creatures express is lost in translation.

a misunderstandingB1noun

a failure to grasp somebody’s meaning correctly

Louise insists that offer weapon is a misunderstanding, not a threat.

misunderstandB1verb

to take somebody’s meaning wrongly

To misunderstand the heptapods here would have planetary consequences.

get the wrong end of the stickC1idiom

to understand a situation completely backwards

The generals have got the wrong end of the stick about the symbol read as weapon.

take something the wrong wayB2idiom

to be offended by a remark that was never intended to offend

Louise knows the visitors might take humanity’s frightened questions the wrong way.

cerebralC1adjective

appealing to the mind rather than to the emotions

Empire praised the film’s emotional and cerebral heft.

meditativeC1adjective

slow and quiet, encouraging deep thought

This Is Film called it a meditative exploration of first contact.

enigmaticC1adjective

mysterious and hard to understand fully

Many reviewers found the film enigmatic and deeply emotional.

hushedC1adjective

very quiet, as though everybody were lowering their voice

Variety admired the film’s elegantly hushed anticipation.

contemplativeC1adjective

thoughtful, spending time considering serious things

Parade called Arrival contemplative and moving.