instrument
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L4613 on Wikidata ↗verb
- attach a measuring device to a system
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɪnstɹəmənt/ / /ˈɪnstɹʊmənt/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum (“an implement, tool”), From īnstruō (“build, construct; arrange”) + -mentum.
- 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 ſonge”
- 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. […]””
“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.”
- 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 tool, implement used for manipulation or measurement.
“Flight within clouds must be made by reference to your instruments.”
- 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.”
- A person used as a mere tool for achieving a goal.
“Or useful serving man and instrument, / To any sovereign state.”
“The bold are but the instruments o' the wise.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum (“an implement, tool”), From īnstruō (“build, construct; arrange”) + -mentum.
- 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, […]”
- To perform upon an instrument; to prepare for an instrument.
“a sonata instrumented for orchestra”