instrument
pronunciation
How to pronounce instrument in British English:
UK [ˈɪnstrəmənt]
How to pronounce instrument in American English:
US [ˈɪnstrəmənt]
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- Noun:
- a device that requires skill for proper use
- the means whereby some act is accomplished
- a person used by another to gain an end
- (law) a document that states some contractual relationship or grants some right
- the semantic role of the entity (usually inanimate) that the agent uses to perform an action or start a process
- any of various devices or contrivances that can be used to produce musical tones or sounds
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- Verb:
- equip with instruments for measuring, recording, or controlling
- write an instrumental score for
- address a legal document to
Word Origin
- instrument
- instrument: [13] Instrument comes from the same source as instruct: the Latin verb instruere ‘build, prepare, equip, teach’. From it was derived the noun instrūmentum, which meant ‘tool, equipment’. When introduced into English via Old French at the end of the 13th century it was used for a ‘musical instrument’, but the more general ‘implement’ and the metaphorical ‘means’ soon followed in the 14th century.=> construct, destroy, instruct, structure
- instrument (n.)
- late 13c., "musical instrument," from Old French instrument "means, device; musical instrument" (14c., earlier estrument, 13c.) and directly from Latin instrumentem "a tool, apparatus, furniture, dress, document," from instruere "arrange, furnish" (see instruct). Meaning "tool, implement, utensil" is early 14c. in English; meaning "written document by which formal expression is given to a legal act" is from early 15c.
Example
- 1. It would be more than a financial instrument .
- 2. Non-musicians in the study did not play any musical instrument .
- 3. This is measured with a special instrument .
- 4. China 's choice of instrument is also telling .
- 5. A close-up image shows one cover for the rover 's sam instrument , with its cover closed .