Instrumental
WordNet
adjective
(1) Serving or acting as a means or aid
"Instrumental in solving the crime"
(2) Relating to or designed for or performed on musical instruments
"Instrumental compositions"
"An instrumental ensemble"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From < instrumentalis < instruere ("to build into, set up, construct, furnish," hence "to train") < in- ("on") + struere ("to put together, arrange, pile up, build, construct") < .
Adjective
- Acting as an instrument; serving as a means; contributing to promote; conductive; helpful; serviceable; essential or central.
- He was instrumental in conducting the business.
- The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth — Shakespeare, Hamlet, I,ii
- Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, especially a musical instrument; as, instrumental music, distinguished from vocal music.
- He defended the use of instrumental music in public worship. — Thomas Babington Macaulay
- Sweet voices mix'd with instrumental sounds. — John Dryden
- 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.
Noun
- The instrumental case.
- A composition without lyrics.
See also
- génitif
- nominatif
- accusatif
- vocatif
- accusatif
- locatif
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Noun
Declension
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