instrument

See also: Instrument

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /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.

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 Thesaurus: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 (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 Greek: 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 (ko) (akgi) (樂器 (ko))
• 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
• Spanish: instrumento (es) m
• Swedish: intrument (sv) n
• Tibetan: རོལ་ཆའི་ཡོ་བྱད (rol cha'i yo byad)
• 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 (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 (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)
• Azerbaijani: 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)

  Ancient Greek: 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, 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)
• Tibetan: ལག་ཆ (lag cha)
• 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 (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.
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

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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 English

Alternative forms

• jnstrument, ynstrument, instreument, enstrement

Etymology

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

Noun

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

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

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
• 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

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Polish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˈstru.mɛnt/

• audio

  (file)

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

• instrumentalny

Further reading

• instrument in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Romanian

Noun

instrument n (plural instrumente)

1. instrument

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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