instrument

See also: Instrument

English

Etymology

From Middle English instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum (“an implement, tool”), From īnstruō (“build, construct; arrange”) +‎ -mentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪnstɹəmənt/, /ˈɪnstɹʊmənt/
• Hyphenation: in‧stru‧ment

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

instrument (plural instruments)

1. A device used to produce music.

   The violinist was a master of her instrument.

   • 1568, William Cornishe [i.e., William Cornysh], “In the Fleete Made by Me William Cornishe otherwise Called Nyshwhete Chapelman with the Most Famose and Noble Kyng Henry the VII. His Reygne the XIX. Yere the Moneth of July. A Treatise betwene Trouth, and Information.”, in John Skelton; J[ohn] S[tow], editor, Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate, Imprinted at London: In Fletestreate, neare vnto Saint Dunstones Churche by Thomas Marshe, OCLC 54747393; republished as Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate to King Henry the VIIIth, London: Printed for C. Davis in Pater-noster Row, 1736, OCLC 731569711, page 290:

     The Harpe. […] A harper with his wreſt maye tune the harpe wrong / Mys tunying of an Inſtrument ſhal hurt a true ſonge

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.

   1. (aviation, usually in the plural) Ellipsis of flight instrument

      Flight within clouds must be made by reference to your instruments.

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.
   • c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene ii]:

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

   • 1670, John Dryden, The Conquest of Granada

     The bold are but the instruments o' the wise.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:instrument

Derived terms

Terms derived from instrument

• block instrument
• blunt instrument
• brass instrument
• chosen instrument
• debt instrument
• derivative instrument
• financial instrument
• flight instrument
• instrumental

• instrumentation
• instrument approach
• instrument flight rules
• instrument guidance system
• instrumentive
• instrument landing system
• instrument meteorological conditions
• keyboard instrument
• measuring instrument

• musical instrument
• negotiable instrument
• on instruments
• percussion instrument
• string instrument
• stringed instrument
• wind instrument
• woodwind instrument
• writing instrument

Translations

musical device

• Albanian: vegël (sq), vegël muzikor
• Arabic: الة موسيقية‎
• Bulgarian: музикален инструмент m (muzikalen instrument)
• Catalan: instrument (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᎧᏃᎩᏍᏙᏗ (kanogisdodi)
• Chinese:

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

  Ancient: ὄργανον n (órganon)

• 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(樂器) (ko) (akgi)
• Latin: organum n
• Latvian: instruments m
• Lithuanian: instrumentas m
• Malayalam: സംഗീത ഉപകരണം (saṅgīta 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, glasbilo (sl) n
• Spanish: instrumento (es) m
• Swedish: instrument (sv) n
• Tamil: இசைக்கருவி (ta) (icaikkaruvi)
• Tibetan: རོལ་ཆའི་ཡོ་བྱད (rol cha'i yo byad)
• Urdu: اوزار‎ m (ozaar), ساز‎ f (saaz)

measuring device

• Bulgarian: прибор (bg) m (pribor), апарат (bg) m (aparat)
• 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 (fi)
• 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(計器) (gyegi)
• 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

• Amharic: መሣሪያ (mäśariya)
• Arabic: آلَة‎ (ar) f (ʾāla), أَدَاة‎ f (ʾadāh)
• Armenian: գործիք (hy) (gorcikʿ)
• Azerbaijani: alət (az)
• Belarusian: інструме́нт m (instrumjént)
• Bulgarian: оръ́дие (bg) n (orǎ́die), сечиво́ (bg) n (sečivó), инструме́нт (bg) m (instrumént)
• Catalan: instrument (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 工具 (zh) (gōngjù)

  Min Nan: khì-kū, kang-kū

• 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)

  Ancient: ἐργαλεῖον n (ergaleîon)

• 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 (jv), perkakas (jv), piranti (jv)
• Kazakh: аспап (kk) (aspap)
• Korean: 도구(道具) (ko) (dogu), 기계(器械) (ko) (gigye), 기구(器具) (ko) (gigu)
• 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)
• Telugu: పనిముట్టు (te) (panimuṭṭu)
• Thai: เครื่อง (th) (krʉ̂ʉang)
• Tibetan: ལག་ཆ (lag cha)
• Turkish: enstrüman (tr), alet (tr)
• Turkmen: esbap, gural
• Ukrainian: інструме́нт m (instrumént)
• Urdu: آلہ‎ (ur) f (ālā)
• 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 (he) m (mismakh)

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

person used as a mere tool

• Bulgarian: оръдие (bg) n (orǎdie)
• 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: ^{(please verify)} იარაღი (iaraɣi)

• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 儀器 (zh), ^{(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.

   an instrumented test article

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

Etymology

From Latin īnstrūmentum.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ins.tɾuˈment/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /ins.tɾuˈmen/

Noun

instrument m (plural instruments)

1. instrument (clarification of this definition is needed)

Derived terms

• instrument musical

 

Related terms

• instrumental
• instrumentar

Further reading

• “instrument” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “instrument”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2022
• “instrument” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “instrument” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪn.stryˈmɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧stru‧ment
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

instrument n (plural instrumenten, diminutive instrumentje n)

1. instrument
2. (music) musical instrument

   Synonyms: muziekinstrument, speeltuig

Derived terms

• blaasinstrument
• klavierinstrument
• muziekinstrument
• percussieinstrument
• slaginstrument
• snaarinstrument
• strijkinstrument

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French

Etymology

From Middle French instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃s.tʁy.mɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

instrument m (plural instruments)

1. instrument (clarification of this definition is needed)

Derived terms

• instrument à cordes
• instrument à vent
• instrument de musique

Further reading

• “instrument”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• jnstrument, ynstrument, instreument, enstrement

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French instrument, from Latin instrūmentum (“tool, device”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˈstriu̯mɛnt/, /ˈinstrumɛnt/

Noun

instrument (plural instrumentes)

1. A tool or device used for manipulation, especially for medical and scientific uses.
2. A device used to produce music; a musical instrument.
3. A piece of weaponry (such as a siege engine).
4. A legal document, such as a contract, deed or will.
5. The means by which one reaches an end or effect.
6. A body part that performs a certain function; an organ.
7. The human body as a whole
8. One of the five senses.

Synonyms

• (music): organe; organum; simphane; symphonye

Related terms

• instrumental

Descendants

• English: instrument

References

• “instrū̆ment, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-02.

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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
• måleinstrument
• 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
• måleinstrument
• strengeinstrument
• strykeinstrument

 

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Polish

Etymology

From Latin īnstrūmentum ("an implement, tool").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˈstru.mɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -umɛnt
• Syllabification: in‧stru‧ment

Noun

instrument m inan

1. instrument

Declension

Declension of instrument

	singular	plural
nominative	instrument	instrumenty
genitive	instrumentu	instrumentów
dative	instrumentowi	instrumentom
accusative	instrument	instrumenty
instrumental	instrumentem	instrumentami
locative	instrumencie	instrumentach
vocative	instrumencie	instrumenty

Derived terms

adjective

• instrumentalny

 

nouns

• instrument dęty
• instrument dęty blaszany

 

Further reading

• instrument in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• instrument in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Romanian

Etymology

From French instrument, from Latin instrumentum.

Noun

instrument n (plural instrumente)

1. instrument

Declension

Declension of instrument

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) instrument	instrumentul	(niște) instrumente	instrumentele
genitive/dative	(unui) instrument	instrumentului	(unor) instrumente	instrumentelor
vocative	instrumentule		instrumentelor

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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
	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

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Zoogocho Zapotec

Alternative forms

• stroment

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish instrumento.

Noun

instrument

1. musical instrument

References

• Long C., Rebecca; Cruz M., Sofronio (2000) Diccionario zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 38)‎^[2] (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Coyoacán, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 236