instrument

See also Instrument

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin īnstrūmentum (“an implement, tool”). suffix -mentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɪnstrʌmənt/, SAMPA: /"InstrVm@nt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

instrument (plural instruments)

1. A device used to produce music.

   The violinist was a master of her instrument.

2. A measuring or displaying device.

   The instrument detected an increase in radioactivity.

3. A tool, implement.

   The dentist set down his tray of instruments.

4. (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.

5. (figuratively) A person used as a mere tool for achieving a goal.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:instrument

Derived terms

Terms derived from instrument

blunt instrument debt instrument derivative instrument financial instrument

instrumentation instrumental instrumentive measuring instrument

musical instrument negotiable instrument writing instrument

Translations

music device

Chinese: trad. 中國, simpl. 樂器 (pinyin: yuèqì) Czech: nástroj (cs) m. Dutch: instrument (nl) n., muziekinstrument (nl) n. Finnish: soitin (fi), instrumentti (fi) French: instrument (fr) m. German: Instrument (de) n., Musikinstrument (de) n. Greek: όργανο (el) (órgano) n. Greenlandic: nipilersuut (kl) Hebrew: כלי נגינה (he) (kli negina) Hungarian: hangszer (hu) Irish: uirlis (ga) f. Italian: strumento (it) m. Japanese: 楽器 (ja) (gakki)

Korean: 악기 (ko) (akgi) (樂器) Latin: organum (la) n. Latvian: instruments (lv) m. Lithuanian: instrumentas (lt) m. Malayalam: സംഗീത ഉപകരണം (samgeetha upakaraNam) Norwegian: instrument (no) Portuguese: instrumento (pt) m. Russian: инструмент (ru) (instrum'ént) m. Scottish Gaelic: ionnsramaid (gd) f., inneal-ciùil (gd) m. Slovene: instrument m., inštrument m. Spanish: instrumento (es) m. Swedish: intrument (sv) n.

measuring device

Czech: přístroj (cs) m. Dutch: instrument (nl) n., meetinstrument (nl) n., meter (nl) m. Finnish: mittari, mittalaite German: Instrument (de) n., Meßinstrument (de) n. Greek: όργανο (el) (órgano) n. Hebrew: מכשיר (he) (makhshir) m. Italian: strumento (it) m.

Japanese: 計器 (ja) (keiki) Korean: 계기 (ko) (gyegi) (計器) Norwegian: måleapparat (no) Portuguese: instrumento m.. aparelho m. Russian: прибор (ru) (pribór) m. Scottish Gaelic: inneal-tomhais (gd) m. Swedish: mätinstrument (sv) n.

tool

Bosnian: alat m. (collective) Bulgarian: оръдие (bg) (orâdie) n., сечиво (bg) (sechivó) n. Dutch: instrument (nl) n. Finnish: väline (fi) German: Werkzeug (de) n., Instrument (de) n. Greek: εργαλείο (el) (ergalío) n. Hebrew: כלי (he) (kli) m. Italian: strumento (it) m. Japanese: 器具 (ja) (kigu), 器械 (ja) (kikai) Korean: 도구 (ko) (dogu) (道具), 기계 (ko) (gigye) (器械), 기구 (ko) (gigu) (器具) Latin: instrūmentum (la) n.

Latvian: rīks (lv) m., ierīce (lv) f. Lithuanian: įrankis (lt) m., prietaisas (lt) m. Norwegian: redskap (no) Portuguese: instrumento (pt) m. Russian: инструмент (ru) (instrum'ént) m. Scottish Gaelic: inneal (gd) m. Serbian: алат (sr) m., alat (sr) m. (collective) Slovene: orodje n. Spanish: instrumento (es) m., herramienta (es) f. Swedish: instrument (sv) n. (especially a fine tool)

legal document

German: Dokument (de) n., Urkunde (de) f. Greek: έγγραφο (el) n. Hebrew: מסמך (he) (mismakh) m.

Korean: 증서 (ko) (jeungseo) (證書) Spanish: instrumento (es) m.

person used as a mere tool

German: Handlanger (de) m. Greek: υποχείριο (el) n., ενεργούμενο (el) n. Korean: 앞잡이 (ko) (apjabi)

Lithuanian: įrankis (lt) m. Spanish: instrumento (es) m.

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 Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Mandarin: 儀器, 仪器 (yiqi)

Verb

instrument (third-person singular simple present instruments, present participle instrumenting, simple past and past participle instrumented)

1. (transitive) To apply measuring devices.
2. (transitive) To devise, conceive, cook-up, plan.

See also

• instrumental

Anagrams

• nutriments

---

Dutch

Wikipedia ^nl

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

instrument n. (^??? please provide the plural!, ^??? please provide the diminutive!)

1. instrument

Derived terms

blaasinstrument muziekinstrument slaginstrument snaarinstrument

---

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

instrument m. (plural instruments)

1. instrument

---

Middle French

Noun

instrument m. (plural instrumens)

1. (musical) instrument

---

Romanian

Noun

instrument n. (plural instrumente)

1. instrument

---

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

instrument n.

1. an instrument (of music, for measurement, method, tool, or financial contract), a device

Declension

Declension of instrument

	singular		plural
Neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	instrument	instrumentet	instrument	instrumenten
genitive	instruments	instrumentets	instruments	instrumentens

Related terms

• blåsinstrument
• instrumentalist
• instrumentbräda
• instrumentell
• instrumentera
• instrumentmakare
• instrumentpanel
• stråkinstrument
• stränginstrument