# instrument
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum (“an implement, tool”), From īnstruō (“build, construct; arrange”) +‎ -mentum.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɪnstɹəmənt/, /ˈɪnstɹʊmənt/
** Audio (California, US):(file)
* Hyphenation: in‧stru‧ment

### Noun

instrument (plural instruments)
* A device used to produce music.
    The violinist was a master of her instrument.
** 1568, William Cornishe [i.e., William Cornysh], “In the Fleete Made by Me William Cornishe otherwise Called Nyshwhete Chapelman with the Most Famose and Noble Kyng Henry the VII. His Reygne the XIX. Yere the Moneth of July. A Treatise betwene Trouth, and Information.”, in John Skelton, edited by J[ohn] S[tow], Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate, Imprinted at London: In Fletestreate, neare vnto St Dunstan-in-the-West by Thomas Marshe, →OCLC; republished as Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate to King Henry the VIIIth, London: Printed for C. Davis in Pater-noster Row, 1736, →OCLC, page 290: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 effect.
** 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:“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. […] ”
** 1963 January 11, “The World”, in Time‎, volume LXXXI, number 2, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 32, column 3: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.
** (aviation, usually in the plural) Ellipsis of flight instrument.
    Flight within clouds must be made by reference to your instruments.
* (law) 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.
* (figuratively) A person used as a mere tool for achieving a goal.
** c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:Or useful serving man and instrument, / To any sovereign state.
** 1670, John Dryden, The Conquest of Granada:The bold are but the instruments o' the wise.

#### Synonyms

* See also Thesaurus:instrument

#### Derived terms

* absolute instrument
* block instrument
* blunt instrument
* brass instrument
* B♭ instrument
* cash instrument
* chosen instrument
* C instrument
* debt instrument
* derivative instrument
* E♭ instrument
* financial instrument
* F instrument
* flight instrument
* instrument approach
* instrumentation
* instrument flight rules
* instrument flying
* instrument guidance system
* instrumentive
* instrument landing system
* instrument maker
* instrument meteorological conditions
* instrument panel
* keyboard instrument
* legal instrument
* Maisonneuve's instrument
* measuring instrument
* monetary instrument
* musical instrument
* negotiable instrument
* on instruments
* percussion instrument
* reed instrument
* statutory instrument
* stringed instrument
* string instrument
* time-delay measuring instrument
* transit instrument
* universal instrument
* wind instrument
* woodwind instrument
* writing instrument

#### Related terms

* instrumental

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Verb

instrument (third-person singular simple present instruments, present participle instrumenting, simple past and past participle instrumented)
* (transitive) To apply measuring devices.
    an instrumented test article
* (transitive) To devise, conceive, cook up, plan.
** 1978 April 15, Mitzel, “An Evening and an Afternoon with James Purdy”, in Gay Community News, page 10: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

#### Synonyms

* (to apply measuring devices): measure, supervise
* (to devise, conceive):
* (to perform on an instrument): play
* (to prepare for an instrument): arrange

### Anagrams

* nutriments

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnstrūmentum.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ins.tɾuˈmen]
* IPA: (Balearic, Valencia) [ins.tɾuˈment]

### Noun

instrument m (plural instruments)
* instrument (clarification of this definition is needed)

#### Derived terms

* instrument musical

#### Related terms

* instrumental
* instrumentar

### Further reading

* “instrument” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “instrument”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “instrument” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “instrument” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Danish
### Noun

instrument n (singular definite instrumentet, plural indefinite instrumenter)
* instrument
* (music) musical instrument
    Synonym: musikinstrument

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “instrument” in Den Danske Ordbog

## Dutch
### Etymology

From Middle Dutch instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˌɪn.stryˈmɛnt/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: in‧stru‧ment
* Rhymes: -ɛnt

### Noun

instrument n (plural instrumenten, diminutive instrumentje n)
* instrument
* (music) musical instrument
    Synonyms: muziekinstrument, speeltuig

#### Derived terms

* blaasinstrument
* instrumentaal
* klavierinstrument
* muziekinstrument
* percussieinstrument
* slaginstrument
* snaarinstrument
* strijkinstrument

#### Descendants

* → Indonesian: instrumen

## French
### Etymology

From Middle French instrument, from Old French instrument, from Latin īnstrūmentum.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɛ̃s.tʁy.mɑ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

instrument m (plural instruments)
* instrument (means or agency for achieving an effect)
    Near-synonym: outil
    nom d’instrument ― nomen instrumenti
    instrument de musique ― musical instrument
* (figuratively, literary) instrument (person used as a mere tool for achieving a goal)
* Ellipsis of instrument de musique (“musical instrument”).
    instrument à cordes ― string instrument
    instrument à vent ― wind instrument
    instrument à percussion ― percussion instrument

#### Derived terms

* instrumentiste

#### Related terms

* instrumental

### Further reading

* “instrument”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
* “instrument” in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse.
* “instrument” in Émile Littré, Dictionnaire de la langue française, 1872–1877.

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* enstrement, instreument, jnstrument, ynstrument

### Etymology

Borrowed from Old French instrument, from Latin instrūmentum (“tool, device”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /instriu̯ˈmɛnt/, /instruˈmɛnt/, /ˈinstriu̯mɛnt/, /ˈinstrumɛnt/

### Noun

instrument (plural instrumentes)
* A tool or device used for manipulation, especially for medical and scientific uses.
* A device used to produce music; a musical instrument.
* A piece of weaponry (such as a siege engine).
* A legal document, such as a contract, deed or will.
* The means by which one reaches an end or effect.
* A body part that performs a certain function; an organ.
* The human body as a whole.
* One of the five senses.

#### Synonyms

* (music): organe; organum; simphane; symphonye

#### Related terms

* instrumental

#### Descendants

* English: instrument

### References

* ↑ “instrū̆ment, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-02.
* ↑ Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎, volumes I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 13.78, page 385.

## Middle French
### Noun

instrument m (plural instrumens)
* (musical) instrument
* instrument (device, often mechanical)

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Noun

instrument n (definite singular instrumentet, indefinite plural instrument or instrumenter, definite plural instrumenta or instrumentene)
* an instrument

#### Derived terms

* blåseinstrument
* musikkinstrument
* måleinstrument
* strengeinstrument
* strykeinstrument

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Noun

instrument n (definite singular instrumentet, indefinite plural instrument, definite plural instrumenta)
* an instrument

#### Derived terms

* blåseinstrument
* musikkinstrument
* måleinstrument
* strengeinstrument
* strykeinstrument

## Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin īnstrūmentum.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /inˈstru.mɛnt/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -umɛnt
* Syllabification: in‧stru‧ment

### Noun

instrument m inan
* instrument

#### Derived terms

* instrumentalny
* instrument dęty
* instrument dęty blaszany
* instrument dęty drewniany
* instrument muzyczny
* instrument pochodny

### Further reading

* instrument in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* instrument in Polish dictionaries at PWN
* instrument in PWN's encyclopedia

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French instrument, from Latin instrumentum.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

instrument n (plural instrumente)
* instrument

#### Declension
## Swedish
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

instrument n
* an instrument (of music, for measurement, method, tool, or financial contract), a device

#### Derived terms

* blåsinstrument
* instrumentalist
* instrumentbräda
* instrumentell
* instrumentera
* instrumentmakare
* instrumentpanel
* stråkinstrument
* stränginstrument

#### Related terms

* instrumentera
* instrumentering
* instrumentation

### References

* instrument in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* instrument in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* instrument in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

## Zoogocho Zapotec
### Alternative forms

* stroment

### Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish instrumento.

### Noun

instrument
* musical instrument

### References

* Long C., Rebecca, Cruz M., Sofronio (2000) Diccionario zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 38)‎ (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Coyoacán, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 236