Hermeneutics (/hɛrməˈnuːtɪks/ or /hɛrməˈnjuːtɪks/) is the theory and methodology of text interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts.

Hermeneutics was initially applied to the interpretation, or exegesis, of scripture. It emerged as a theory of understanding through the work of Friedrich Schleiermacher (Romantic hermeneutics), Wilhelm Dilthey, Martin Heidegger (hermeneutic phenomenology), Hans-Georg Gadamer, Paul Ricoeur, Northrop Frye, Walter Benjamin, Jacques Derrida (radical hermeneutics), Richard Kearney (diacritical hermeneutics), and Fredric Jameson. Modern hermeneutics includes both verbal and nonverbal communication as well as semiotics, presuppositions, and preunderstandings.