instruct

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English instructen, also instructe,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin īnstrūctus, the past participle of īnstruō (“to build, set in order, equip, teach”).^{[4][2][3][5][6]} Barnhart thinks it was in some cases also a back-formation from instruction.^[7] The Latin verb is formed from in- (“on, in”) and struō (“to pile up, build”),^[4][5][8][9] the verb that also appears in construction, destruction and structure;^[10] Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace it to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“to spread”).^[4][5] The OED compares Old French enstruire, estruire and French instruire, which had the senses "to teach", "to build" and "to inform" from the 12th century on.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To tell or inform someone; to teach: about 1425, in the Book of the Foundation of St Bartholomew's.^[2] Barnhart finds it in the sense "tell, inform" probably before 1425, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon, and in the sense "teach" from 1447;^[7] the OED's first record of the verb is from about 1449, in Pecock's Repressor.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In English the verb never had the literal Latin sense "to build", only the figurative ones.^[11] It meant to teach or inform from the 15th century, to direct or command from the 16th, and for a time in the 17th century to put in order.^[8][6] Legal senses followed: a client or solicitor instructs a lawyer by giving him the facts of a case (1529), a judge instructs a jury on the law (1671), while from 1802 to instruct a solicitor or barrister meant to engage one.^[6] Johnson (1755) gave "to teach; to form by precept; to inform authoritatively" as its first sense.^[12] In older Scots it could also mean to prove clearly.^[13] A related adjective instruct, taught or educated, was used from about 1425 to 1693.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – to tell or inform; to teach.^[2]
• c. 1449 – to give someone knowledge in a subject.^[6]
• 1477 – to teach someone how to do something.^[6]
• 1489 – to inform or notify.^[6]
• before 1500 – to direct or order.^[6]
• 1529 – in law, to give a lawyer information about a case.^[6]
• 1671 – of a judge, to direct a jury on the law.^[6]
• 1802 – to engage a solicitor or barrister.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To teach or train someone in a subject or skill: She instructs beginners in sailing every summer.^[3][14][6]
2. To tell someone to do something; to order or direct: The guide instructed the group to stay on the path.^[14][6]
3. To give information to; to inform or apprise.^[14][6]
4. (law, chiefly British) To give a solicitor or barrister the facts of a case, or to engage one to act.^[14][6]
5. (law) Of a judge, to explain to a jury the law that applies to a case.^[6]

Word family

• instructedly
• instructedness
• instructible
• uninstructing
• misinstruct
• preinstruct

Related words

• instruction
• instructive
• instructor
• instructress
• overinstruct
• uninstructed
• reinstruct
• structure
• construct
• instrument
• destruction

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins