English

Etymology
From Middle English < Medieval Latin instrumentalis < instruere ("to build into, set up, construct, furnish," hence "to train") < in- ("on") + struere ("to put together, arrange, pile up, build, construct") < Proto-Indo-European Wiktionary Appendix:Proto-Indo-European roots|*streu- ("to spread, extend, stretch out").

Pronunciation
audio|en-us-instrumental.ogg|Audio (US)

Adjective
en-adj

1. Acting as an instrument; serving as a means; contributing to promote; conductive; helpful; serviceable; essential or central.

#:He was instrumental in conducting the business.
#:Quotations
#:*The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth &mdash; Shakespeare, Hamlet, I,ii

1. Music: Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, especially a musical instrument; as, instrumental music, distinguished from vocal music.

#:Quotations
#:*He defended the use of instrumental music in public worship. &mdash; Macaulay
#:*Sweet voices mix'd with instrumental sounds. &mdash; Dryden

1. Grammar: Applied to a case expressing means or agency�and is generally indicated in English by by or with with the objective; as, the instrumental case. This is found in Sanskrit as a separate case, but in Greek it was merged into the dative, and in Latin into the ablative. In Old English it was a separate case, but has disappeared, leaving only a few anomalous forms. It continues to be used in Slavic languages.

Derived terms
instrumental error

Noun
en-noun|s|-

1. context|uncountable|grammar The instrumental case.
2. context|countable|music A composition without lyrics.

Translations
trans-top|grammatical case
Bosnian: t-|bs|instrumental|m
Bulgarian: �во�и�елен падеж (tvorítelen padéž) m
Croatian: t-|hr|instrumental|m
Czech: t-|cs|sedmý pád|m
French: t+|fr|instrumental|m
German: Instrumental-Kasus m
Hungarian: eszközhatározó eset (using -vel|-val or -vel endings)
Icelandic: t+|is|tækisfall|n
trans-mid
Japanese: �格 (����, zoukakú), �格 (���, gukakú)
Russian: �во�и�ел�н�й падеж (tvorítel�nyj padéž) m
Slovak: siedmy pád m, inštrumentál m
Slovene: t+|sl|orodnik|m
Spanish: t-|es|caso instrumental|m
Turkish: t-|tr|enstrümental
trans-bottom

Bosnian

Noun
bs-noun|g=m|instrumentali

1. the instrumental case

Declension
bs-decl-noun
|instrumental|instrumentali
|instrumentala|instrumentala
|instrumentalu|instrumentalima
|instrumental|instrumentale
|instrumentale|instrumentali
|instrumentalom|instrumentalima
|instrumentalu|instrumentalima

Croatian

Noun
hr-noun|g=m|instrumentali

1. the instrumental case

Declension
hr-decl-noun
|instrumental|instrumentali
|instrumentala|instrumentala
|instrumentalu|instrumentalima
|instrumental|instrumentale
|instrumentale|instrumentali
|instrumentalu|instrumentalima
|instrumentalom|instrumentalima

da:instrumental
fr:instrumental
io:instrumental
is:instrumental
pl:instrumental
pt:instrumental
ru:instrumental
sl:instrumental
fi:instrumental
te:instrumental
vi:instrumental
tr:instrumental
zh:instrumental

• 2007-11-27 15:47 - Tbot - updated t/t-/t+ templates

Full Revision History