instrument
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum (“an implement, tool”), From īnstruō (“build, construct; arrange”) + -mentum.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
instrument (plural instruments)
- A device used to produce music.
- The violinist was a master of her instrument.
- 1568, William Cornishe [i.e., William Cornysh], “In the Fleete Made by Me William Cornishe otherwise Called Nyshwhete Chapelman with the Most Famose and Noble Kyng Henry the VII. His Reygne the XIX. Yere the Moneth of July. A Treatise betwene Trouth, and Information.”, in John Skelton; J[ohn] S[tow], editor, Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate, Imprinted at London: In Fletestreate, neare vnto Saint Dunstones Churche by Thomas Marshe, OCLC 54747393; republished as Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate to King Henry the VIIIth, London: Printed for C. Davis in Pater-noster Row, 1736, OCLC 731569711, page 290:
- The Harpe. […] A harper with his wreſt maye tune the harpe wrong / Mys tunying of an Inſtrument ſhal hurt a true ſonge
- A means or agency for achieving an effect.
- 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Tremarn Case[1]:
- “There the cause of death was soon ascertained ; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which [...] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom. [...]”
- 1963 January 11, “The World”, in Time[2], volume LXXXI, number 2, ISSN 0040-781X, OCLC 1311479, page 32, column 3:
- On the rocky island of Tungyin, 50 miles off the coast of Red China, is the headquarters of a little-known military unit called the Anti-Communist Salvation Army. The secret army, 30,000 strong, is Chiang Kai-shek's instrument for the long-promised return to the mainland.
- A measuring or displaying device.
- The instrument detected an increase in radioactivity.
- A tool, implement used for manipulation or measurement.
- The dentist set down his tray of instruments.
- The scientist recorded the temperature with a thermometer but wished he had a more accurate instrument.
- (aviation, usually in the plural) Ellipsis of flight instrument.
- Flight within clouds must be made by reference to your instruments.
- (law) A legal document, such as a contract, deed, trust, mortgage, power, indenture, or will.
- A bond indenture is the instrument that gives a bond its value.
- Negotiable instruments are the foundation of the debt markets.
- (figuratively) A person used as a mere tool for achieving a goal.
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene ii]:
- Or useful serving man and instrument, / To any sovereign state.
- 1670, John Dryden, The Conquest of Granada
- The bold are but the instruments o' the wise.
SynonymsEdit
- See also Thesaurus:instrument
Derived termsEdit
- block instrument
- blunt instrument
- brass instrument
- chosen instrument
- debt instrument
- derivative instrument
- financial instrument
- flight instrument
- instrumental
TranslationsEdit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
VerbEdit
instrument (third-person singular simple present instruments, present participle instrumenting, simple past and past participle instrumented)
- (transitive) To apply measuring devices.
- an instrumented test article
- (transitive) To devise, conceive, cook up, plan.
- To perform upon an instrument; to prepare for an instrument.
- a sonata instrumented for orchestra
SynonymsEdit
- (to apply measuring devices): measure, supervise
- (to devise, conceive):
- (to perform on an instrument): play
- (to prepare for an instrument): arrange
See alsoEdit
AnagramsEdit
CatalanEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin īnstrūmentum.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
instrument m (plural instruments)
- instrument (clarification of this definition is needed)
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “instrument” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “instrument”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2022
- “instrument” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “instrument” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
DutchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle Dutch instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
instrument n (plural instrumenten, diminutive instrumentje n)
- instrument
- (music) musical instrument
- Synonyms: muziekinstrument, speeltuig
Derived termsEdit
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle French instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
instrument m (plural instruments)
- instrument (clarification of this definition is needed)
Derived termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “instrument”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Old French instrument, from Latin instrūmentum (“tool, device”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
instrument (plural instrumentes)
- A tool or device used for manipulation, especially for medical and scientific uses.
- A device used to produce music; a musical instrument.
- A piece of weaponry (such as a siege engine).
- A legal document, such as a contract, deed or will.
- The means by which one reaches an end or effect.
- A body part that performs a certain function; an organ.
- The human body as a whole
- One of the five senses.
SynonymsEdit
Related termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
- English: instrument
ReferencesEdit
- “instrū̆ment, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-02.
Middle FrenchEdit
NounEdit
instrument m (plural instrumens)
- (musical) instrument
- instrument (device, often mechanical)
Norwegian BokmålEdit
NounEdit
instrument n (definite singular instrumentet, indefinite plural instrument or instrumenter, definite plural instrumenta or instrumentene)
- an instrument
Derived termsEdit
Norwegian NynorskEdit
NounEdit
instrument n (definite singular instrumentet, indefinite plural instrument, definite plural instrumenta)
- an instrument
Derived termsEdit
PolishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin īnstrūmentum ("an implement, tool").
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
instrument m inan
DeclensionEdit
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | instrument | instrumenty |
genitive | instrumentu | instrumentów |
dative | instrumentowi | instrumentom |
accusative | instrument | instrumenty |
instrumental | instrumentem | instrumentami |
locative | instrumencie | instrumentach |
vocative | instrumencie | instrumenty |
Derived termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- instrument in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- instrument in Polish dictionaries at PWN
RomanianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From French instrument, from Latin instrumentum.
NounEdit
instrument n (plural instrumente)
DeclensionEdit
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) instrument | instrumentul | (niște) instrumente | instrumentele |
genitive/dative | (unui) instrument | instrumentului | (unor) instrumente | instrumentelor |
vocative | instrumentule | instrumentelor |
SwedishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Audio (file)
NounEdit
instrument n
- an instrument (of music, for measurement, method, tool, or financial contract), a device
DeclensionEdit
Declension of instrument | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | instrument | instrumentet | instrument | instrumenten |
Genitive | instruments | instrumentets | instruments | instrumentens |
Related termsEdit
- blåsinstrument
- instrumentalist
- instrumentbräda
- instrumentell
- instrumentera
- instrumentmakare
- instrumentpanel
- stråkinstrument
- stränginstrument
Zoogocho ZapotecEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Spanish instrumento.
NounEdit
instrument
ReferencesEdit
- Long C., Rebecca; Cruz M., Sofronio (2000) Diccionario zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 38)[3] (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Coyoacán, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 236