instrumental

[ in-struh-men-tl ]
See synonyms for: instrumentalinstrumentals on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. serving or acting as an instrument or means; useful; helpful.

  2. performed on or written for a musical instrument or instruments: instrumental music.

  1. of or relating to an instrument or tool.

  2. Grammar.

    • (in certain inflected languages, as Old English and Russian) noting or pertaining to a case having as its distinctive function the indication of means or agency, as Old English beseah blīthe andweitan “looked with a happy countenance.”

    • noting the affix or other element characteristic of this case, or a word containing such an element.

    • similar to such a case form in function or meaning, as the Latin instrumental ablative, gladiō, “by means of a sword.”

    • (in case grammar) pertaining to the semantic role of a noun phrase that indicates the inanimate, nonvolitional, immediate cause of the action expressed by a verb, as the rock in The rock broke the window or in I broke the window with the rock.

noun
  1. Grammar.

    • the instrumental case.

    • a word in the instrumental case.

    • a construction of similar meaning.

  2. a musical composition played by an instrument or a group of instruments.: Compare vocal (def. 8).

Origin of instrumental

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Medieval Latin word instrūmentālis.See instrument, -al1

Other words for instrumental

Other words from instrumental

  • in·stru·men·tal·ly, adverb
  • non·in·stru·men·tal, adjective
  • non·in·stru·men·tal·ly, adverb
  • un·in·stru·men·tal, adjective
  • un·in·stru·men·tal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby instrumental

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use instrumental in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for instrumental

instrumental

/ (ˌɪnstrəˈmɛntəl) /


adjective
  1. serving as a means or influence; helpful

  2. of, relating to, or characterized by an instrument or instruments

  1. played by or composed for musical instruments

  2. grammar denoting a case of nouns, etc, in certain inflected languages, indicating the instrument used in performing an action, usually translated into English using the prepositions with or by means of

noun
  1. a piece of music composed for instruments rather than for voices

  2. grammar

    • the instrumental case

    • a word or speech element in the instrumental case

Derived forms of instrumental

  • instrumentality, noun
  • instrumentally, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012