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instrumental definition

in·stru·men·tal (in′strə ment′'l)

adjective

  1. serving as a means; helpful (in bringing something about)
  2. of or performed with an instrument or tool
  3. of, performed on, or written for a musical instrument or instruments
  4. of or in keeping with instrumentalism
  5. Gram. designating, of, or in the case of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives expressing means or agency

Etymology: ME < MFr < ML instrumentalis

noun

  1. a composition for a musical instrument or instruments
  2. Gram.
    1. the instrumental case: this case is expressed by inflection in Old English, Sanskrit, Russian, etc., and in English with the prepositions by or with (Ex.: OE ðȳ spere, “by the spear, with the spear”)
    2. a word or phrase in this case

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

instrumental Synonyms

instrumental

modif.

partly responsible for, contributory, conducive, of service; see effective, helpful 1, necessary 1.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

instrumental Usage Examples

Noun used with modifier

  • guitar: Dan is not a particularly brilliant singer and a whole evening of guitar instrumentals is not my ideal concert.

Used with adjective complement

  • prove: Quaker culture proved instrumental in material and commercial advancement.

Modifies a noun

  • rationality: Very often philosophers have questioned that instrumental rationality could account for the rational structure underlying our natural languages.

Modifying Another Word

  • purely: The music that was written for them is among the first purely instrumental music ever to be written.

Preposition: in

  • founding: Who would have guessed that Homerton College was instrumental in the founding of one of England's most famous football clubs?
instrumental usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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MLA Style

"instrumental." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/instrumental>

APA Style

instrumental. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/instrumental

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