Instrumental

Table of contents

1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Adjective 1.3 Derived expressions 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Translations

English

Etymology

Compare French instrumental

Adjective

1. Acting as an instrument; serving as a means; contributing to promote; conductive; helpful; serviceable; as, he was instrumental in conducting the business.

   Quotations

   • The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth — Shakespeare, Hamlet, I,ii

2. (Music): Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, especially a musical instrument; as, instrumental music, distinguished from vocal music.

   Quotations

   • He defended the use of instrumental music in public worship — Macaulay
   • Sweet voices mix'd with instrumental sounds — Dryden

3. (Grammar): 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.

Derived expressions

• Instrumental errors, those errors in instrumental measurements, etc., which arise, exclusively from want of mathematical accuracy in an instrument.

Noun

1. (Grammar) The instrumental case.

Translations

Bulgarian: творителен падеж (tvorítelen padéž) m Czech: sedmý pád m French: instrumental m German: Instrumental-Kasus m Hungarian: eszközhatározó eset (using -val or -vel endings)

Japanese: 造格 (ぞうかく , zoukakú), 具格 (ぐかく , gukakú) Russian: творительный падеж (tvorítel'nyj padéž) m Slovak: siedmy pád m, inštrumentál m Spanish: caso instrumental m