instrument

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:

     “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.

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

See also

• instrumental

Anagrams

• nutriments

Noun

instrument m (plural instruments)

1. instrument

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

instrument n (plural instrumenten, diminutive instrumentje n)

1. instrument

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).

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

References

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

Noun

instrument m (plural instrumens)

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

Noun

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

1. an instrument

Noun

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

1. an instrument

Noun

instrument n (plural instrumente)

1. instrument

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

instrument n

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