I think the uses I've seen of it have been recent enough that that authors probably aren't focusing much on that aspect. If you compare those three words, 'inte

I think the uses I've seen of it have been recent enough that that authors probably aren't focusing much on that aspect. If you compare those three words, 'interpret', 'understand', 'hermeneutic', the first thing that stands out most to me is relative commonness in the English language. Hermeneutic is far less known than the other two—so you'd think you'd want to avoid it unless you really need it (assuming your goal is to communicate which, sigh, sadly it often isn't so simple of course). The other thing that stands out becomes clear when I try to find forms of 'interpret' and 'understand' that actually match the way 'hermeneutic' is used. I think they would be 'interpreting' and... well, there isn't anything very close for 'understand' really. I think the way it's used (when it's used as an adjective rather than referring to the field of study) the meaning is something like, "involving interpretation"; e.g., "the hermeneutic necessity inherent in all communication". It probably also has some connotations that authors like brought in, like an implication that the interpretation relativizes or at least colors whatever it is that's being understood/communicated? In any case, I think it's still kind of unclear and annoying because even if there is a legitimate difference, I'm pretty sure people just use it to sound cool over frequently.