instantiate

American  

[in-stan-shee-ayt] / ɪnˈstæn ʃiˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

instantiated, instantiating

1. to provide an instance of or concrete evidence in support of (a theory, concept, claim, or the like).

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instantiate British  

/ ɪnˈstænʃɪˌeɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to represent by an instance

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Other Word Forms

• instantiation
  noun
• instantiative
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of instantiate

First recorded in 1945–50; from Medieval Latin īnstantia “example supporting a general proposition,” from Latin īnstanti-, taken as a combining form of īnstantia “presence, urgency, urgent supplication, steadfastness”; see origin at instance, -ate ¹

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Explanation

When you provide a specific example to illustrate an idea, you instantiate it. You say you believe in unicorns, but so far you haven't been able to instantiate that belief. Philosophers often use this term, which can be most simply understood as "represent by an instance." A multi-millionaire may choose to instantiate their wealth by driving an extremely expensive car and wearing $500 shoes. A photojournalist might attempt to instantiate the dangers of a particular intersection by taking photos of car accidents that occur there. Whenever you clarify or explain a concept with a real-world example of it, you instantiate that idea.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

instantiate instantiated instantiating

Yet, in this dance between self-preservation and conformity, they instantiate the stereotypes they’re trying to escape.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2023

What sorts of catastrophes would instantiate an existential risk?

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2022

Here, taxidermy becomes a way to instantiate our relationship to bodies—both our own and those of others.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 21, 2019

The words we see on supermarket packages both reflect and instantiate deep beliefs about the meaning of our foods—and, in particular, about how they might affect our health.

From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2017

It consists of billions of computers linked together using optical fibers and copper cables that rapidly instantiate specific connections using ultrafast communication protocols.

From Scientific American ● Jan. 1, 2014

But that society would be providing the computer servers on which the world as we know it is instantiated.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2022

And that’s that at every possible moment of time, every possible choice, every possible observable, is instantiated.

From The Verge ● Dec. 17, 2021

It is simply instantiated into more overt forms.

From Slate ● Nov. 20, 2020

We’re in an age of impunity, where there’s a retreat from core commitments that were instantiated in some of the international legal regime that grew up in the post–Second World War period.

From Slate ● May 27, 2020

Expectations of efficiency are instantiated, within a given scale of human activity, in market quantities and qualities.

From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Mihai Nadin

All things being equal, realizing, delivering, instantiating, imagining the significant ideas of the next one hundred or two hundred years will be – objectively – more difficult than those of the past.

From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2021

They are different from graffiti, which to my eyes is egocentric and monotone, mostly instantiating the will of the tagger over and over again.

From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2020

The process and the outcome remain unified, but rather than musically instantiating the utopia it seeks, this time S-K was reflecting back the living dystopia surrounding it.

From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2019

When we set the rules for membership on scientific advisory boards and suggest that one form of conflict might be more or less important than another, we’re instantiating values.

From Slate ● May 16, 2017

“The Virgin Suicides” does a wonderful job both exploring and instantiating this discomfort, but for me, the most powerful articulation of it is the Steven Millhauser story, “The Sisterhood of the Night.”

From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2017

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