instructor

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ɪnˈstrʌk.tə/, US /ɪnˈstrʌk.tɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English instructour, from Old French instructeur and directly from Medieval Latin instructor (“teacher”), in classical Latin a preparer,^[2][3] an agent noun from instruere, to arrange, inform, teach (see instruct).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who instructs, a teacher: 1460 in the OED, the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In American colleges, a teacher ranking below a professor is from 1722,^[5] and instructorship from 1882–83.^[5] A person who teaches a practical skill, as a driving or ski instructor, is a common modern use.^[4]

Timeline

• 1460 – a teacher.^[5]
• 1722 – a college instructor (US).^[5]
• 1882 – instructorship.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who instructs; a teacher, especially of a practical skill.
2. (US, Canada) A college or university teacher ranking below an assistant professor.

Word family

• instructorship
• drill instructor

Related words

• instruct
• instruction
• instructive
• structure

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press