instrumental

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

instrumental (disambiguation)

Wikipedia

English Wikipedia has an article on:

instrumental

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English instrumental, instrumentale, from Medieval Latin īnstrūmentālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnstɹəˈmɛntəl/, /ɪnstɹʊˈmɛntəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntəl

Adjective

instrumental (comparative more instrumental, superlative most instrumental)

1. Essential or central; of great importance or relevance.

   He was instrumental in conducting the business.

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth

   • 2012, Christoper Zara, Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, part 1, chapter 2, 51:

     Few songwriters have been as instrumental in creating the mold for American music.

   • 2020 July 29, Ian Prosser discusses with Paul Stephen, “Rail needs robust and strategic plans”, in Rail, page 40:

     [...] Prosser was instrumental in the decision in 2010 to recommence publication of an annual health and safety report, following a period when it had fallen into abeyance.

2. Serving as an instrument, medium, means, or agency.
   • 1896, Charles M. Sheldon, chapter 12, in In His Steps:

     Maxwell started back to his study, feeling that kind of satisfaction which a man feels when he has been even partly instrumental in finding an unemployed person a remunerative position.

3. (music) Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for an instrument, especially a musical instrument (rather than the human voice).

   instrumental music

   An instrumental part

   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     He defended the use of instrumental music in public worship.

   • c. 1700, John Dryden, Cymon and Iphigenia:

     Sweet voices mix'd with instrumental sounds.

4. (grammar) Applied to a case expressing means or agency, generally indicated in English by by or with with the objective.

   the instrumental case

Antonyms

• noninstrumental

Coordinate terms

• (serving as a means): final
• (music): vocal, a cappella

Derived terms

Related terms

• instrument

Translations

Noun

instrumental (plural instrumentals)

1. (grammar) The instrumental case.
2. (music) A composition written or performed without lyrics or singing, using a lead instrument to replace vocals.
   • 1977, Stereo Review, volume 38, page 70:

     I recommend this album in the face of the fact that five of the eleven songs are the purest filler, dull instrumentals with a harmonica rifling over an indifferent rhythm section. The rest is magnificent […]

Translations

Further reading

• “instrumental”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “instrumental”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnstrūmentālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

instrumental m or f (masculine and feminine plural instrumentals)

1. instrumental

Derived terms

• instrumentalitzar

Related terms

• instrument

Noun

instrumental m (uncountable)

1. (grammar) instrumental
2. (medicine) (set of) instruments

Further reading

• “instrumental” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin īnstrūmentālis. By surface analysis, instrument +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃s.tʁy.mɑ̃.tal/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

instrumental (feminine instrumentale, masculine plural instrumentaux, feminine plural instrumentales)

1. instrumental

Derived terms

• instrumentaliser

Noun

instrumental m (plural instrumentaux)

1. (grammar) instrumental case, instrumental

   Coordinate terms: accusatif, génitif, locatif, nominatif, vocatif

Descendants

• → Turkish: enstrümantal

Further reading

• “instrumental”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

German

Etymology

Borrowed from French instrumental. Equivalent to Instrument +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

instrumental (strong nominative masculine singular instrumentaler, not comparable)

1. (music) instrumental

   Antonym: nichtinstrumental

Declension

Further reading

• “instrumental” in Duden online
• “instrumental” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch instrumentaal, from French instrumental, from Medieval Latin īnstrūmentālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪn.stru.ˈmɛn.tal/
• Rhymes: -tal
• Hyphenation: in‧stru‧men‧tal

Adjective

instrumental

1. instrumental:
   1. (music) pertaining to, made by, or prepared for an instrument, especially a musical instrument (rather than the human voice).
   2. (linguistics) applied to a case expressing means or agency.

Related terms

Further reading

• “instrumental” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• instrumentale, instrumentall

Etymology

From Medieval Latin instrumentalis; equivalent to instrument +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˌstrumɛnˈtaːl/, /inˈstrumɛntal/, /instruˈmɛntal/

Adjective

instrumental (rare)

1. Resembling an instrument in role; instrumental (serving as a means)
2. Resembling an instrument in use (i.e. being used as a tool)
3. Resembling a (specific kind of) instrument in appearance.

Descendants

• English: instrumental

References

• “instrū̆mentāl, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-12.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: ins‧tru‧men‧tal

Adjective

instrumental m or f (plural instrumentais, sometimes comparable)

1. (comparable) instrumental (acting as an instrument)
2. (music, not comparable) instrumental (having no singing)
3. (grammar, not comparable) instrumental (pertaining to the instrumental case)

Derived terms

• instrumentalmente

Noun

instrumental m (plural instrumentais)

1. (uncountable, grammar) instrumental (grammatical case)
2. (countable, music) instrumental (composition without singing)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French instrumental. By surface analysis, instrument +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌin.stru.menˈtal/

Adjective

instrumental m or n (feminine singular instrumentală, masculine plural instrumentali, feminine and neuter plural instrumentale)

1. instrumental

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

ȉnstrumentāl m (Cyrillic spelling и̏нструмента̄л)

1. (grammar) the instrumental case
2. (music) a composition made for instruments only or a (version of some) song in which only the instruments are heard

Declension

Slovene

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /íːnstrumɛntal/, /instrumɛntáːl/

Noun

ȋnstrumental or instrumentȃl m inan

1. (grammar) instrumental case

   Synonym: orodnik

2. (music) instrumental music

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• “instrumental”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /instɾumenˈtal/
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ins‧tru‧men‧tal

Adjective

instrumental m or f (masculine and feminine plural instrumentales)

1. instrumental

Derived terms

Further reading

• “instrumental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014