instrument

See also: Instrument

English

Etymology

From Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum (“an implement, tool”), suffix -mentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪnstɹʊmənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

instrument (plural instruments)

1. A device used to produce music.

   The violinist was a master of her instrument.

2. 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. […]”

3. A measuring or displaying device.

   The instrument detected an increase in radioactivity.

4. 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."

5. (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.

6. (figuratively) A person used as a mere tool for achieving a goal.
   • Shakespeare

     Or useful serving man and instrument, / To any sovereign state.

   • Dryden

     The bold are but the instruments of the wise.

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
• brass instrument
• keyboard instrument
• string instrument
• stringed instrument

Translations

musical device

• Arabic: الة موسيقية‏‎
• Catalan: instrument (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 樂器, ^{(please verify)} 乐器 (yuèqì)

• Czech: nástroj (cs) m
• Danish: instrument n, musikinstrument (da) n
• Dutch: instrument (nl) n, muziekinstrument (nl) n
• Esperanto: instrumento
• Estonian: pill (et), muusikariist
• Finnish: soitin (fi), instrumentti (fi)
• French: instrument (fr) m
• Galician: instrumento (gl) m
• German: Instrument (de) n, Musikinstrument (de) n
• Greek: όργανο (el) n (órgano)
• Greenlandic: nipilersuut
• Hebrew: כלי נגינה‏‎ (he) (kli negina)
• Hungarian: hangszer (hu)
• Icelandic: hljóðfæri (is)
• Ido: muzik-instrumento (io), muzikilo (io)
• Irish: uirlis f, ionstraim f, gléas m, adhbh cheoil f (literary)

• Italian: strumento (it) m
• Japanese: 楽器 (ja) (gakki)
• Korean: 악기 (ko) (akgi) (樂器 (ko))
• Latin: organum n
• Latvian: instruments m
• Lithuanian: instrumentas m
• Malayalam: സംഗീത ഉപകരണം (saṃgīta upakaraṇaṃ)
• Maori: mea whakatangi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: instrument (no) n

  Nynorsk: instrument n

• Polish: instrument (pl) m
• Portuguese: instrumento (pt) m
• Romanian: instrument (ro) n
• Russian: инструме́нт (ru) m (instrumént)
• Scottish Gaelic: ionnsramaid f, inneal-ciùil m
• Slovene: instrument m inan, inštrument m inan
• Spanish: instrumento (es) m
• Swedish: intrument (sv) n
• Urdu: اوزار‏‎ m (ozaar), ساز‏‎ f (saaz)

measuring device

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

• Japanese: 計器 (ja) (keiki)
• Korean: 계기 (gyegi) (計器)
• Norwegian: måleapparat
• Portuguese: instrumento (pt) m, aparelho (pt) m
• Romanian: instrument (ro) n, aparat (ro) n
• Russian: прибо́р (ru) m (pribór), устро́йство (ru) n (ustrójstvo)
• Scottish Gaelic: inneal-tomhais m
• Swedish: mätinstrument (sv) n

tool

• Arabic: آلَة‏‎ (ar) f (ʾāla), أَدَاة‏‎ f (ʾadāh)
• Armenian: գործիք (hy) (gorcikʿ)
• Azeri: alət (az)
• Belarusian: інструме́нт m (instrumjént)
• Bulgarian: оръдие (bg) n (orâdie), сечиво (bg) n (sechivó), инструме́нт (bg) m (instrumént)
• Catalan: instrument (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 工具 (zh) (gōngjù)

• Czech: nástroj (cs) m
• Danish: instrument, værktøj (da) n
• Dutch: instrument (nl) n
• Estonian: vahend
• Finnish: väline (fi)
• Georgian: ინსტრუმენტი (insṭrumenṭi), იარაღი (iaraɣi)
• German: Werkzeug (de) n, Instrument (de) n
• Greek: εργαλείο (el) n (ergaleío)
• Hebrew: כלי‏‎ (he) m (kli)
• Hindi: साधन (hi) m (sādhan)
• Hungarian: műszer (hu)
• Italian: strumento (it) m
• Japanese: 器具 (ja) (kigu), 器械 (ja) (kikai)
• Javanese: alat, perkakas (jv), piranti (jv)
• Kazakh: аспап (kk) (aspap)
• Korean: 도구 (ko) (dogu) (道具 (ko)), 기계 (ko) (gigye) (器械 (ko)), 기구 (ko) (gigu) (器具 (ko))
• Kyrgyz: аспап (ky) (aspap)
• Latin: instrūmentum (la) n

• Latvian: rīks (lv) m, ierīce f
• Lithuanian: įrankis (lt) m, prietaisas m
• Malay: alat (ms)
• Maori: paraha
• Norwegian: redskap (no)
• Persian: اسباب‏‎ (fa) (asbâb), ابزار‏‎ (fa) (abzâr)
• Polish: instrument (pl) m, narzędzie (pl) n
• Portuguese: instrumento (pt) m
• Russian: инструме́нт (ru) m (instrumént), ору́дие (ru) n (orúdije), приспособле́ние (ru) n (prisposoblénije), прибо́р (ru) m (pribór)
• Scottish Gaelic: inneal m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: алат m (collective)

  Roman: alat (sh) m (collective)

• Slovak: nástroj m
• Slovene: orodje (sl) n
• Spanish: instrumento (es) m, herramienta (es) f
• Swedish: instrument (sv) n (especially a fine tool)
• Tajik: асбоб (tg) (asbob), олат (olat), абзор (tg) (abzor)
• Thai: เครื่อง (th) (krʉ̂ʉang)
• Turkish: enstrüman (tr), alet (tr)
• Turkmen: esbap, gural
• Ukrainian: інструме́нт m (instrumént)
• Urdu: آلہ‏‎ (ur) f (alaa)
• Uzbek: asbob (uz)
• Vietnamese: dụng cụ (vi)
• Welsh: teclyn (cy) m

legal document

• French: acte (fr) m
• German: Dokument (de) n, Urkunde (de) f
• Greek: έγγραφο (el) n (éngrafo)
• Hebrew: מסמך‏‎ m (mismakh)

• Korean: 증서 (jeungseo) (證書)
• Russian: инструме́нт (ru) m (instrumént), акт (ru) m (akt), гра́мота (ru) f (grámota)
• Spanish: instrumento (es) m

person used as a mere tool

• German: Handlanger (de) m
• Greek: υποχείριο (el) n (ypocheírio), ενεργούμενο (el) n (energoúmeno)
• 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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Georgian: იარაღი (iaraɣi)

• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 儀器, ^{(please verify)} 仪器 (zh) (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.
3. To perform upon an instrument; to prepare for an instrument.

   a sonata instrumented for orchestra

Synonyms

• (to apply measuring devices): measure, supervise
• (to devise, conceive):
• (to perform on an instrument): play
• (to prepare for an instrument): arrange

See also

• instrumental

Anagrams

• nutriments

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Catalan

Noun

instrument m (plural instruments)

1. instrument

---

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

instrument n (plural instrumenten, diminutive instrumentje n)

1. instrument

Derived terms

• blaasinstrument
• muziekinstrument
• slaginstrument
• snaarinstrument

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃s.tʁy.mɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

instrument m (plural instruments)

1. instrument

Further reading

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

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Middle French

Noun

instrument m (plural instrumens)

1. (musical) instrument
2. instrument (device, often mechanical)

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Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

instrument n (definite singular instrumentet, indefinite plural instrument or instrumenter, definite plural instrumenta or instrumentene)

1. an instrument

Derived terms

• blåseinstrument
• musikkinstrument
• strengeinstrument
• strykeinstrument

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

instrument n (definite singular instrumentet, indefinite plural instrument, definite plural instrumenta)

1. an instrument

Derived terms

• blåseinstrument
• musikkinstrument
• strengeinstrument
• strykeinstrument

---

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