instrument

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɪnstɹəmənt/, /ˈɪnstɹʊmənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French instrument (“means, device; musical instrument”) and directly borrowed from Latin instrumentum (“tool, apparatus, furniture, dress, document”),^[2][3][4] from instruere (“to arrange, equip”) (see instruct),^[2][3] from in- (“on”) and struere (“to pile, build”), from PIE Proto-Indo-European *stere- (“to spread”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A musical instrument: about 1290 in the OED, the late 13th century in Etymonline,^[5][3] about 1300 in Barnhart.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A tool or device is from the early 14th century, probably before 1325 in Barnhart,^[3][2] and a means or agency, including a person used by another, from the mid-14th century.^[3][5] The OED notes that an instrument is now usually distinguished from a tool as used for delicate, scientific or artistic work.^[3] A legal document is from the early 15th century, 1483 in the OED.^[3][5] A bodily organ was formerly an instrument, as in Chaucer's Wife of Bath.^[3][5] A measuring or control device in a vehicle or aircraft follows.^[6][7] Instrumental is from before 1398, and of music for instruments from 1509.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1290 – a musical instrument.^[5]
• before 1325 – a tool.^[2]
• 1340 – a means or agent.^[5]
• early 15th century – a legal document.^[3]
• 1509 – instrumental music.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A device for producing musical sounds.
2. A tool or implement, especially for precise work: surgical instruments.
3. A device for measuring or controlling, as on a dashboard.
4. A means by which something is done; a person used by another as a tool.
5. (law) A formal legal document, such as a deed or contract.

Verb

1. To equip with instruments; to orchestrate music.

Word family

• instrumentation
• instrument panel
• reed instrument
• transit instrument
• brass instrument
• instrument flying
• flight instrument
• percussion instrument

Related words

• instrumental
• construe
• instruct
• structure
• construct
• destroy

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
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
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins