instrument
Syllables: in·stru·ment/ˈɪnstɹəmənt/
instrument noun: a device used to produce music. Also the ellipsis of flight instrument.
Noun
instrument (plural instruments)
- A device used to produce music.
- The violinist was a master of her instrument.
- The Harpe. […] A harper with his wreſt maye tune the harpe wrong / Mys tunying of an Inſtrument ſhal hurt a true ſonge1568, 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....
- A means or agency for achieving an aspect.
- “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. […]”1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening &...
- On the rocky island of Tungyin, 50 miles off the coast of Red China, is the headquarters of a little-known military unit called the Anti-Communist Salvation Army. The secret army, 30,000 strong, is Chiang Kai-shek's instrument for the long-promised return to the mainland.1963 January 11, “The World”, in Time, volume LXXXI, number 2, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 32, column 3
- A measuring or displaying device.
- The instrument detected an increase in radioactivity.
- 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.
- A legal document, such as a contract, deed, trust, mortgage, power, indenture, or will, or any of a class of negotiable ones (which can be exchanged for value or money).
- A bond indenture is the instrument that gives a bond its value.
- Negotiable instruments are the foundation of the debt markets.
- A person used as a mere tool for achieving a goal.
- Or useful serving man and instrument, / To any sovereign state.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- The bold are but the instruments o' the wise.1670, John Dryden, The Conquest of Granada
Verb
instrument (third-person singular simple present instruments, present participle instrumenting, simple past and past participle instrumented)
- To apply measuring devices.
- an instrumented test article
- To devise, conceive, cook up, plan.
- When the Lit. Mongers deign to notice his work, they dismiss him as a "cult writer," another of their standard ploys. Purdy, not really bitter at the instrumented silence and sneers of the bookchat legions, […]1978 April 15, Mitzel, “An Evening and an Afternoon with James Purdy”, in Gay Community News, page 10
- To perform upon an instrument; to prepare for an instrument.
- a sonata instrumented for orchestra
Also used as
instrument is also the ellipsis of flight instrument.
instrument meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
instrument in Hindi
- musical device
- वाद्य vādya, बाजा bājā
- tool
- साधन sādhan, उपकरण upakraṇ
- measuring device
- मापन māpan
instrument in Tamil
- musical device
- இசைக்கருவி icaikkaruvi
instrument in Marathi
- वाद्य, वाद्याला
instrument in Urdu
- musical device
- اوزار ozaar, ساز saaz
- tool
- آلہ ālā
More languagesFewer languages
- instrument in Telugu
- పనిముట్టు panimuṭṭu
- instrument in Malayalam
- സംഗീത ഉപകരണം saṅgīta upakaraṇaṁ
- instrument in Kannada
- ವಾದ್ಯ
- instrument in Punjabi
- ਸਾਜ਼
- instrument in Arabic
- الة موسيقية, آلَة ʔāla, أَدَاة ʔadāh
- instrument in Malay
- alat
- instrument in Indonesian
- instrumen
- instrument in Persian
- اسباب asbâb, ابزار abzâr
- instrument in Thai
- เครื่องดนตรี krʉ̂ʉang-don-dtrii, เครื่อง krʉ̂ʉang, เครื่องมือวัด krʉ̂ʉang-mʉʉ-wát, ตราสาร dtraa-sǎan
- instrument in Vietnamese
- nhạc cụ, dụng cụ
Examples of instrument in a sentence
- To doctor the signature of an instrument with intent to defraud is an example of forgery.
- The new instruments will shed some light on the history of these rocks.
- The visual where the trombone all threw their instruments into the air looked good.
Synonyms of instrument
Forms of instrument
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | instruments |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | instruments |
| present participle | instrumenting |
| past participle | instrumented |
| past | instrumented |
Origin of instrument
From Middle English instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum (“an implement, tool”), From īnstruō (“build, construct; arrange”) + -mentum.
Words formed from instrument
- absolute instrument
- bioinstrument
- block instrument
- blunt instrument
- brass instrument
- B♭ instrument
- cash instrument
- chosen instrument
- C instrument
- debt instrument
- derivative instrument
- E♭ instrument
- financial instrument
- F instrument
- flight instrument
- hyperinstrument
- instrument approach
- instrumentary
- instrumentation
- instrument flight rules
- instrument flying
- instrument guidance system
- instrumentist
- instrumentive
- instrument landing system
- instrumentlike
- instrumently
- instrument maker
- instrument meteorological conditions
- instrument nurse
- instrument panel
- instrument-shaped object
- keyboard instrument
- law of the instrument
- legal instrument
- Maisonneuve's instrument
- measuring instrument
- microinstrument
- monetary instrument
- musical instrument
- negotiable instrument
- on instruments
- percussion instrument
- reed instrument
- reinstrument
- Sabouraud-Noiré instrument
- statutory instrument
- stringed instrument
- string instrument
- time-delay measuring instrument
- transit instrument
- universal instrument
- wind instrument
- woodwind instrument
Phrases with instrument
Questions about instrument
- What does instrument mean?
- Instrument means a device used to produce music.
- What is instrument in Hindi?
- Instrument in Hindi is वाद्य (vādya), बाजा (bājā), साधन (sādhan). See Instrument meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is instrument?
- Instrument can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce instrument?
- Instrument is pronounced /ˈɪnstɹəmənt/.
- What is the plural of instrument?
- The plural of instrument is instruments.
Words near instrument in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: instrument (page history and authors); instrument (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); instrument (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); instrument (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-instrument.ogg.
Cite this entry: “instrument.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/instrument. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.