instrument

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See also: Instrument

English[edit]

Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈɪnstɹʊmənt/
  • Hyphenation: in‧stru‧ment
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)

Noun[edit]

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."
  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[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from instrument

Translations[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

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[edit]

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

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Catalan[edit]

Noun[edit]

instrument m (plural instruments)

  1. instrument

Dutch[edit]

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

instrument n (plural instrumenten, diminutive instrumentje n)

  1. instrument

Derived terms[edit]

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

instrument m (plural instruments)

  1. instrument

Further reading[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

instrument (plural instruments or instrumentes or instrumentis)

  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 weapon.
  4. A siege engine.
  5. A legal document, such as a contract, deed or will.
  6. The means by which one reaches an end or effect.
  7. A body part that performs a certain function; an organ.
  8. The human body as a whole
  9. One of the five senses

Synonyms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

Middle French[edit]

Noun[edit]

instrument m (plural instrumens)

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

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Noun[edit]

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

  1. an instrument

Derived terms[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Noun[edit]

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

  1. an instrument

Derived terms[edit]

Romanian[edit]

Noun[edit]

instrument n (plural instrumente)

  1. instrument

Swedish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

instrument n

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

Declension[edit]

Declension of instrument 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative instrument instrumentet instrument instrumenten
Genitive instruments instrumentets instruments instrumentens

Related terms[edit]

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