instance

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English[edit]

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Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French instance, from Latin instantia (a being near, presence, also perseverance, earnestness, importunity, urgency), from instans (urgent); see instant.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

instance (plural instances)

  1. (obsolete) Urgency of manner or words; an urgent request; insistence. [14th-19th c.]
    • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.8:
      I know one very well alied, to whom, at the instance of a brother of his [...], I spake to that purpose [...].
  2. A case offered as an exemplification or a precedent; an illustrative example. [from 16th c.]
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy:
      sometimes we love those that are absent, saith Philostratus, and gives instance in his friend Athenodorus, that loved a maid at Corinth whom he never saw [...].
  3. One of a series of recurring occasions, cases, essentially the same.
    • 2006, Robert Spaemann, Persons: The Difference Between 'someone' and 'something', page 115:
      One's own death is an 'accidental' event, simply another instance of the general rule that human beings die.
    • 2010, Kenneth Anderson, How to Change Your Drinking: a Harm Reduction Guide to Alcohol, page 59:
      If you choose to drink again the best way to avoid another instance of withdrawal is to avoid drinking two days in a row.
    • 2010, The Guardian, 11 Oct 2010:
      The organisations claim fraudsters are targeting properties belonging to both individuals and companies, in some instances using forged documents.
  4. (obsolete) A piece of evidence; a proof or sign (of something). [16th-18th c.]
    • c. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors:
      The reason that I gather he is mad, Besides this present instance of his rage, Is a mad tale he told to day at dinner [...].
  5. (computing) In object-oriented programming: a created object, one that has had memory allocated for local data storage; an instantiation of a class. [from 20th c.]
  6. (massively multiplayer online games) A dungeon or other area that is duplicated for each player, or each party of players, that enters it, so that each player or party has a private copy of the area, isolated from other players.
  7. (massively multiplayer online games) An individual copy of such a dungeon or other area.
    • 2005 January 11, Patrick B., "Re: Instance dungeons", in alt.games.warcraft, Usenet:
      The instance is created for the group that enters it.
    • 2005 December 6, "Rene" (username), "Re: Does group leader affect drops?", in alt.games.warcraft, Usenet:
      As soon as the first player enters (spawns) a new instance, it appears that the loottable is somehow chosen.
    • 2010, Anthony Steed & Manuel Fradinho Oliveira, Networked Graphics: Building Networked Games and Virtual Environments, Elsevier, ISBN 978-0-12-374423-4, page 398:
      A castle on the eastern edge of the island spawns a new instance whenever a party of players enters.

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

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See also[edit]

Verb[edit]

instance (third-person singular simple present instances, present participle instancing, simple past and past participle instanced)

  1. (transitive) To mention as a case or example; to refer to; to cite; as, to instance a fact.
  2. (intransitive) To cite an example as proof; to exemplify.

References[edit]

Statistics[edit]

Anagrams[edit]


French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

  • From Latin instantia. For the computing sense, reborrowed from English instance.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA: /ɛ̃s.tɑ̃s/
  • (file)

Noun[edit]

instance f (plural instances)

  1. occurrence; instance; occasion
  2. pressing solicitation
  3. prosecution
  4. (computing) instance

Anagrams[edit]