instrument
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also Instrument
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Latin īnstrūmentum (“an implement, tool”). suffix -mentum.
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
instrument (plural instruments)
- A device used to produce music.
- The violinist was a master of her instrument.
- A means or agency for achieving an effect.
- 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, 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. […]”
- 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, The Tremarn Case[1]:
- 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."
- (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.
Synonyms [edit]
- See also Wikisaurus:instrument
Derived terms [edit]
Terms derived from instrument
Translations [edit]
music device
|
|
measuring device
|
|
tool
|
|
legal document
person used as a mere tool
|
|
- 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.
Verb [edit]
instrument (third-person singular simple present instruments, present participle instrumenting, simple past and past participle instrumented)
- (transitive) To apply measuring devices.
- (transitive) To devise, conceive, cook up, plan.
- To perform upon an instrument; to prepare for an instrument.
- a sonata instrumented for orchestra
Synonyms [edit]
- (to apply measuring devices):
- (to devise, conceive):
- (to perform on an instrument): play
- (to prepare for an instrument): arrange
See also [edit]
Anagrams [edit]
Dutch [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
-
Audio (file)
Noun [edit]
instrument n (plural instrumenten, diminutive instrumentje)
Derived terms [edit]
French [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
-
Audio (file)
Noun [edit]
instrument m (plural instruments)
Middle French [edit]
Noun [edit]
instrument m (plural instrumens)
- (musical) instrument
- instrument (device, often mechanical)
Romanian [edit]
Noun [edit]
instrument n (plural instrumente)
Swedish [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
-
Audio (file)
Noun [edit]
instrument n
- an instrument (of music, for measurement, method, tool, or financial contract), a device
Declension [edit]
Declension of instrument
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neuter | indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite |
| nominative | instrument | instrumentet | instrument | instrumenten |
| genitive | instruments | instrumentets | instruments | instrumentens |