instrumental

From Middle English instrumental, instrumentale, from Medieval Latin instrumentalis, from instruere (“to build into, set up, construct, furnish, hence "to train"”), from in- (“on”) + struere (“to put together, arrange, pile up, build, construct”), from Proto-Indo-European *strew- (“to spread, to strew”).

• IPA^(key): /ɪnstɹəˈmɛntəl/, /ɪnstɹʊˈmɛntəl/

• Audio (US)

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instrumental (comparative more instrumental, superlative most instrumental)

1. Acting as an instrument; serving as a means; contributing to promote; conductive; helpful; serviceable; essential or central.

   He was instrumental in conducting the business.

   • (Can we date this quote?), William Shakespeare, Hamlet, I,ii

     The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth —

   • 2012, Christoper Zara, Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, part 1, chapter 2, 51:

     Few songwriters have been as instrumental in creating the mold for American music.

2. (music) Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, especially a musical instrument.

   instrumental music

   • (Can we date this quote?) Thomas Babington Macaulay

     He defended the use of instrumental music in public worship.

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden
   • Sweet voices mix'd with instrumental sounds.
3. (grammar) Applied to a case expressing means or agency, generally indicated in English by by or with with the objective.

   the instrumental case

• noninstrumental

• (serving as a means): final
• (music): vocal, a capella

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} strumentale (it)

instrumental (plural instrumentals)

1. (grammar) The instrumental case.
2. (music) A composition written or performed without lyrics, sometimes using a lead instrument to replace vocals.
   • 1977, Stereo Review (volume 38, page 70)

     I recommend this album in the face of the fact that five of the eleven songs are the purest filler, dull instrumentals with a harmonica rifling over an indifferent rhythm section. The rest is magnificent […]

3. (plural only, music) The backing track of a song. The audio of a song without the vocal track.

• instrumental in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• instrumental in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

instrumental (masculine and feminine plural instrumentals)

1. instrumental

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃s.tʁy.mɑ̃.tal/

• audio

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instrumental (feminine singular instrumentale, masculine plural instrumentaux, feminine plural instrumentales)

1. instrumental

instrumental m (plural instrumentaux)

1. (grammar) the instrumental case

• accusatif
• génitif
• locatif
• nominatif
• vocatif

• “instrumental” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

From French instrumental.

Instrument +‎ -al

• Rhymes: -aːl

instrumental (not comparable)

1. (music) instrumental

• nichtinstrumental

• instrumental in Duden online

• instrumentale, instrumentall

From Medieval Latin instrumentalis; equivalent to instrument +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /instriu̯mɛnˈtaːl/, /instruˈmɛntal/

instrumental (rare)

1. Resembling an instrument in role; instrumental (serving as a means)
2. Resembling an instrument in use (i.e. being used as a tool)
3. Resembling a (specific kind of) instrument in appearance.

• English: instrumental

• “instrū̆mentāl (adj.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-12.

instrumental m or f (plural instrumentais, comparable)

1. (music) instrumental (having no singing)
2. (grammar) instrumental (pertaining to the instrumental case)

instrumental m (plural instrumentais)

1. (uncountable, grammar) instrumental (grammatical case)
2. (countable, music) instrumental (composition without singing)

ȉnstrumentāl m (Cyrillic spelling и̏нструмента̄л)

1. the instrumental case
2. (music) a composition made for instruments only or a (version of some) song in which only the instruments are heard

instrumental (plural instrumentales)

1. instrumental