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instrumental

 - 3 dictionary results

in⋅stru⋅men⋅tal

[in-struh-men-tl]
–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.
3. of or pertaining to an instrument or tool.
4. Grammar.
a. (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.”
b. noting the affix or other element characteristic of this case, or a word containing such an element.
c. similar to such a case form in function or meaning, as the Latin instrumental ablative, gladiō, “by means of a sword.”
d. (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
5. Grammar.
a. the instrumental case.
b. a word in the instrumental case.
c. a construction of similar meaning.
6. a musical composition played by an instrument or a group of instruments. Compare vocal (def. 8).

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < ML instrūmentālis. See instrument, -al 1


in⋅stru⋅men⋅tal⋅ly, adverb


1. implemental, effectual, effective.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To instrumental
in·stru·men·tal   (ĭn'strə-měn'tl)   
adj.  
  1. Serving as a means or agency; implemental: was instrumental in solving the crime.

  2. Of, relating to, or accomplished with an instrument or tool.

  3. Music Performed on or written for an instrument.

  4. Grammar Of, relating to, or being the case used typically to express means, agency, or accompaniment.

  5. Of or relating to instrumentalism.

n.  
    1. Grammar The instrumental case.

    2. A word or form in the instrumental case.

  1. Music A composition for one or more instruments, usually without vocal accompaniment.

in'stru·men'tal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: in·stru·men·tal
Pronunciation: "in(t)-str&-'ment-&l
Function: adjective
: OPERANT <instrumental learning> <instrumental conditioning>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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