instrumental

English

/ɪnstɹəˈmɛntəl/

adj
Definitions
  • essential or central; of great importance or relevance.
  • (music) Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, especially a musical instrument (rather than the human voice).
  • (grammar) Applied to a case expressing means or agency, generally indicated in English by by or with with the objective.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English instrumental derived from Latin instrumentalis derived from Proto-Indo-European *strew- (strew, spread, spread out, scatter, spread around).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*strew-

Gloss

strew, spread, spread out, scatter, spread around

Concept
Semantic Field

Motion

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms