instruction

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for instruction in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Etymology

Middle English instruccioun, from Old French instruccion, from Latin instructio; equivalent to instruct +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌkʃən

Noun

instruction (countable and uncountable, plural instructions)

1. (uncountable) The act of instructing, teaching, or furnishing with information or knowledge.

   Students receive instruction in the arts and sciences.

   Instruction will be provided on how to handle difficult customers.

   • 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 5, in Pulling the Strings:

     Anstruther laughed good-naturedly. “[…] I shall take out half a dozen intelligent maistries from our Press and get them to give our villagers instruction when they begin work and when they are in the fields.”

2. (countable) An instance of the information or knowledge so furnished.
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     If my instructions may be your guide.

3. (countable) An order or command.
   • 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619:

     Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.

4. (computing) A single operation of a processor defined by an instruction set architecture.
5. A set of directions provided by a manufacturer for the users of a product or service.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:instruction

Translations

act of instructing, teaching, or furnishing with knowledge; information

• Arabic: تَعْلِيم‎‎ (ar) m (taʿlīm)
• Catalan: instrucció (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 指令 (zh) (zhǐlìng), 指示 (zh) (zhǐshì), 教導 (zh), 教导 (zh) (jiàodǎo)

• Danish: vejledning c
• Dutch: onderwijs (nl) n
• Esperanto: instruado
• Finnish: opastus (fi), opettaminen (fi), ohjaaminen (fi)
• French: instruction (fr) f
• German: Unterricht (de) m
• Greek: οδηγία (el) f (odigía), εκπαίδευση (el) f (ekpaídefsi), εντολή (el) f (entolí), κατάρτιση (el) f (katártisi)
• Hebrew: הוראה‎‎ (he) f (Hora'ah)

• Irish: deachtú m
• Japanese: 指示 (ja) (しじ, shiji), 教訓 (ja) (きょうくん, kyōkun)
• Latin: īnstructiō f, doctrina f, disciplina f, auditio
• Malay: arahan
• Norwegian: veiledning
• Portuguese: instrução (pt) f
• Romanian: instruire (ro) f, învățare (ro) f, învățământ (ro) n
• Russian: инстру́кция (ru) f (instrúkcija), инструкта́ж (ru) m (instruktáž), наставле́ние (ru) n (nastavlénije), обуче́ние (ru) n (obučénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: stiùireadh m, teagasg m
• Swahili: agizo (sw)
• Swedish: instruktion (sv) c, undervisning (sv) c, skolväsen n, c
• Urdu: اُپْدیش‎‎ (ur) m (updeś)

that which instructs, or with which one is instructed

• Danish: vejlederen c
• Finnish: opastus (fi), ohje (fi)
• German: Anweisung (de) f
• Greek: οδηγία (el) f (odigía), συμβουλή (el) f (symvoulí)
• Irish: treoir f
• Japanese: インストラクション (insutorakushon), 命令 (ja) (めいれい, meirei)
• Portuguese: instrução (pt) f

• Romanian: instrucțiune (ro) f, indicație (ro) f, învățătură (ro) f, îndrumare (ro) f
• Russian: инстру́кция (ru) f (instrúkcija), (usually plural) указа́ние (ru) n (ukazánije), (usually plural) предписа́ние (ru) n (predpisánije), (usually plural) распоряже́ние (ru) n (rasporjažénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: stiùireadh m, teagasg m
• Spanish: instrucción (es)
• Swahili: magizo (sw)
• Swedish: instruktör (sv) c

order or command

• Dutch: aanwijzing (nl) f
• Finnish: käyttöohje (fi)
• French: instruction (fr) f

• German: Anweisung (de) f
• Swahili: agizo (sw) class 5/6

single operation of a processor

• Czech: instrukce f
• Dutch: instructie (nl) f
• Finnish: käsky (fi)
• German: Assemblerbefehl m
• Greek: εντολή (el) f (entolí)
• Hebrew: הוראה‎‎ (he) f (Hora'ah)

• Irish: treoir f
• Portuguese: instrução (pt) f
• Romanian: instrucțiune (ro) f
• Russian: инстру́кция (ru) f (instrúkcija)
• Swahili: agizo (sw)
• Swedish: instruktion (sv) c

set of directions provided by a manufacturer

• Finnish: käyttöohje (fi)

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.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} instruo

• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} tid (vo)

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃s.tʁyk.sjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

instruction f (plural instructions)

1. instruction

Further reading

• “instruction” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).