In hermeneutics, the hermeneutic circle is an iterative process of understanding a text through its context. It expresses the idea that interpretations of a part and the whole are mutually interdependent: an understanding of the whole is reached by reference to the individual parts, but an understanding of each individual part depends on an understanding of the whole. The circle is a metaphor for the procedure of transforming one's understanding of the part and the whole through iterative recontextualization.