instrumentality
Americannoun
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the quality or state of being instrumental.
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the fact or function of serving some purpose.
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a means or agency.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of instrumentality
First recorded in 1645–55; instrumental + -ity
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This issue is more complicated than most, in large measure because the industry directly affected is already accustomed to being an instrumentality of the federal government.
From Washington Times • May 14, 2023
“They are a sovereign instrumentality of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the filing said, adding the discovery order was “an extraordinary infringement on the sovereignty of a foreign state.”
From Seattle Times • Mar. 2, 2023
The debts and liabilities backed by Purdue “constitute an instrumentality of the state of Indiana for the purpose of the department’s regulations,” he said.
From Washington Post • Oct. 6, 2017
This can be done by showing that a part of the company created to avoid taxes is “nothing more than instrumentality of its parent company, a sham.”
From New York Times • May 21, 2013
It was so far well that they desired to avail themselves of the peaceful instrumentality of Samuel.
From The Expositor's Bible: The First Book of Samuel by Blaikie, William Garden
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
