instar

English

WOTD – 14 December 2012, 14 December 2014

Etymology 1

An instar of the mayfly Cloeon dipterum

From Latin instar (“form, likeness”), which is of obscure origin.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɪnstɑː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪnstɑɹ/
• Hyphenation: in‧star

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

instar (plural instars)

1. Any one of the several stages of postembryonic development which an arthropod undergoes, between molts, before it reaches sexual maturity.
2. An arthropod at a specified one of these stages of development.
   • 2005, Nematodes as biocontrol agents, Parwinder S. Grewal, Ralf-Udo Ehlers, David I. Shapiro-Ilan, editor,(Please provide the book title or journal name), page 133:

     In A. orientalis, first and second instars were more susceptible than third instars to H. bacteriophora TF strain, […]

3. (by extension) A stage in development.
   • 1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (Crest Giant; D338), Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications, published December 1959, OCLC 768447:

     We avoided Tourist Homes, country cousins of Funeral ones, old-fashioned, genteel and showerless, with elaborate dressing tables in depressingly white-and-pink little bedrooms, and photographs of the landlady’s children in all their instars.

   • 2014 January 8, Caleb Crain, “The Democratic Personality”, in The New Yorker‎^[2]:

     California spirituality is a late instar of America’s utopian impulse, and corporate meritocracy derives from the Whig dream of the self-made man that entranced young Abraham Lincoln.

Translations

stage in the development of arthropods

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 齡 (zh), 龄 (zh) (líng), 蛻變期, 蜕变期 (tuìbiànqī), 蛻期, 蜕期 (tuìqī)

• Finnish: kehitysvaihe
• German: Larvenstadium n, Entwicklungsstadium (de) n
• Greek: στάδιο (el) n (stádio)
• Russian: во́зраст (ru) m (vózrast)
• Spanish: estadio (es)

arthropod at a specified one of these stages

• German: Larve (de) f

by extension: development stage

• Finnish: kehitysvaihe
• German: Entwicklungsstadium (de) n
• Japanese: 齢 (ja) (れい)

Etymology 2

From in- +‎ star.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈstɑː/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈstɑɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

Verb

instar (third-person singular simple present instars, present participle instarring, simple past and past participle instarred)

1. (transitive, archaic) To stud or adorn with stars or other brilliants; to star.
   • 1882, Frederick Randolph Abbe, The Temple Rebuilt: A Poem, page 125:

     Yet mark with shining steps the humbler way;
     And, as angelic feet instar the sky,
     Drop the bright sparks along the wilderness.

   • 1893, The Atlantic Monthly, volume 72, page 507:

     Espey could distinguish through the clear darkness the fringed branches of a pine-tree clinging to the heights above and waving against the instarred sky, and below a vague moving whiteness […]

   • 1896, Mary Noailles Murfree (pseudonym Charles Egbert Craddock), In the Tennessee mountains, 14 edition, page 209:

     He was dreaming, surely; or were those deep, instarred eyes really fixed upon him with that wistful gaze which he had seen only twice before?

2. (transitive) To make a star of; set as a star.

Anagrams

• S-train, Sartin, Strain, Tarins, Trains, atrins, santir, sartin, starin', strain, tairns, tarins, trains

---

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnstar (“equivalent”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃s.taʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧star

Noun

instar

1. Only used in à l'instar de (“just like”)

Derived terms

• à l'instar de

Further reading

• “instar”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

---

Latin

Etymology

Of obscure origin. Perhaps from a metaphor meaning 'to stand close to', thereby semantically related to ἔχθαρ.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈin.star/, [ˈĩːs̠t̪är]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈin.star/, [ˈinst̪är]

Noun

īnstar n sg (indeclinable, no genitive)

1. image, likeness, resemblance
2. counterpart
3. worth, value
4. an equal form (of)
5. of equal weight/size/form (to)
   • 1539 CE, Olaus Magnus, Carta Marina, marginal note.

     Quia, optime lector, Scandiana insula apud Plinium alter orbis terrarum, et a Iordane Gotho ac Paulo Diacono vagina sive officina gentium appellatur, plurimique populi (ut omnis scriptorum turba testatur) ex ea instar apum vel inundantium aquarum exiere, utile putavi nomina aliquarum gentium inde egressarum subiecta pagina indicare.

     Since, dear reader, the isle of Scandinavia is called another world in Pliny's works, and since it is called by Jordanes the Goth and Paul the Deacon a womb or manufacturing-room of ethnic groups, and since numerous peoples (as any group of scholars can attest) descended from there like a swarm of bees or floodwaters, I thought it useful to indicate, on the page below, the names of various ethnic groups that originated there.

Declension

Not declined; used only in the nominative and accusative singular, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	īnstar
Genitive	—
Dative	—
Accusative	īnstar
Ablative	—
Vocative	—

Descendants

• → English: instar
• → French: instar

References

• “instar”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “instar”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• instar in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette

---

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnstāre.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩsˈta(ʁ)/ [ĩsˈta(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩsˈta(ʁ)/ [ĩsˈta(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ĩsˈta(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ĩʃˈta(ʁ)/ [ĩʃˈta(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩsˈta(ɻ)/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩʃˈtaɾ/

Verb

instar (first-person singular present insto, first-person singular preterite instei, past participle instado) (intransitive)

1. to urge [+ com (someone)]
2. to insist [+ por (object) = on], to ask insistently for
3. to question insistently, to interrogate [+ a (someone)]
4. to be imminent, to lurk
5. to be urgent or necessary

Conjugation

    Conjugation of instar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	instar
Personal	instar	instares	instar	instarmos	instardes	instarem
Gerund
	instando
Past participle
Masculine	instado			instados
Feminine	instada			instadas
Indicative
Present	insto	instas	insta	instamos	instais	instam
Imperfect	instava	instavas	instava	instávamos	instáveis	instavam
Preterite	instei	instaste	instou	instamos1, instámos2	instastes	instaram
Pluperfect	instara	instaras	instara	instáramos	instáreis	instaram
Future	instarei	instarás	instará	instaremos	instareis	instarão
Conditional
	instaria	instarias	instaria	instaríamos	instaríeis	instariam
Subjunctive
Present	inste	instes	inste	instemos	insteis	instem
Imperfect	instasse	instasses	instasse	instássemos	instásseis	instassem
Future	instar	instares	instar	instarmos	instardes	instarem
Imperative
Affirmative		insta	inste	instemos	instai	instem
Negative (não)		não instes	não inste	não instemos	não insteis	não instem

¹Brazil.
²Portugal.

References

• “instar” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2023.
• “instar” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.

---

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin īnstō (“urge, insist”) whence English instant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /insˈtaɾ/ [ĩnsˈt̪aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: ins‧tar

Verb

instar (first-person singular present insto, first-person singular preterite insté, past participle instado)

1. (intransitive) to urge (press someone to do something soon)

   Synonyms: urgir, apretar

2. (transitive) to insist (repeat a plea)

   Synonym: insistir

Conjugation

    Conjugation of instar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			instar
gerund			instando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		instado		instada
		plural		instados		instadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	insto	instastú instásvos	insta	instamos	instáis	instan
	imperfect	instaba	instabas	instaba	instábamos	instabais	instaban
	preterite	insté	instaste	instó	instamos	instasteis	instaron
	future	instaré	instarás	instará	instaremos	instaréis	instarán
	conditional	instaría	instarías	instaría	instaríamos	instaríais	instarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	inste	instestú instésvos2	inste	instemos	instéis	insten
	imperfect (ra)	instara	instaras	instara	instáramos	instarais	instaran
	imperfect (se)	instase	instases	instase	instásemos	instaseis	instasen
	future1	instare	instares	instare	instáremos	instareis	instaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		instatú instávos	inste	instemos	instad	insten
	negative		no instes	no inste	no instemos	no instéis	no insten

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of instar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive instar
	dative	instarme	instarte	instarle, instarse	instarnos	instaros	instarles, instarse
	accusative	instarme	instarte	instarlo, instarla, instarse	instarnos	instaros	instarlos, instarlas, instarse
with gerund instando
	dative	instándome	instándote	instándole, instándose	instándonos	instándoos	instándoles, instándose
	accusative	instándome	instándote	instándolo, instándola, instándose	instándonos	instándoos	instándolos, instándolas, instándose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative insta
	dative	ínstame	ínstate	ínstale	ínstanos	not used	ínstales
	accusative	ínstame	ínstate	ínstalo, ínstala	ínstanos	not used	ínstalos, ínstalas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative instá
	dative	instame	instate	instale	instanos	not used	instales
	accusative	instame	instate	instalo, instala	instanos	not used	instalos, instalas
with formal second-person singular imperative inste
	dative	ínsteme	not used	ínstele, ínstese	ínstenos	not used	ínsteles
	accusative	ínsteme	not used	ínstelo, ínstela, ínstese	ínstenos	not used	ínstelos, ínstelas
with first-person plural imperative instemos
	dative	not used	instémoste	instémosle	instémonos	instémoos	instémosles
	accusative	not used	instémoste	instémoslo, instémosla	instémonos	instémoos	instémoslos, instémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative instad
	dative	instadme	not used	instadle	instadnos	instaos	instadles
	accusative	instadme	not used	instadlo, instadla	instadnos	instaos	instadlos, instadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative insten
	dative	ínstenme	not used	ínstenle	ínstennos	not used	ínstenles, ínstense
	accusative	ínstenme	not used	ínstenlo, ínstenla	ínstennos	not used	ínstenlos, ínstenlas, ínstense

Related terms

• instancia

Further reading

• “instar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014