What does instrumental mean?
Definitions for instrumental
ˌɪn strəˈmɛn tlin·stru·men·tal
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word instrumental.
Princeton's WordNet
instrumentaladjective
relating to or designed for or performed on musical instruments
"instrumental compositions"; "an instrumental ensemble"
implemental, instrumental, subservientadjective
serving or acting as a means or aid
"instrumental in solving the crime"
Wiktionary
instrumentalnoun
The instrumental case.
instrumentalnoun
A composition without lyrics.
instrumentaladjective
Acting as an instrument; serving as a means; contributing to promote; conductive; helpful; serviceable; essential or central.
He was instrumental in conducting the business.
instrumentaladjective
Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, especially a musical instrument.
instrumental music
instrumentaladjective
Applied to a case expressing means or agency, generally indicated in English by by or with with the objective.
the instrumental case.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Instrumentaladjective
Etymology: instrumental, French; instrumentum, Latin.
All second and instrumental causes, without that operative faculty which God gave them, would become altogether silent, virtueless, and dead. Walter Raleigh, Hist. of the World.
Prayer, which is instrumental to every thing, hath a particular promise in this thing. Jeremy Taylor, Rule of living holy.
It is not an essential part of religion, but rather an auxiliary and instrumental duty. George Smalridge, Sermons.
I discern some excellent final causes of conjunction of body and soul; but the instrumental I know not, nor what invisible bands and fetters unite them together. Richard Bentley, Sermons.
The presbyterian merit is of little weight, when they allege themselves instrumental towards the restoration. Jonathan Swift.
They which, under pretence of the law ceremonial abrogated, require the abrogation of instrumental musick, approving nevertheless the use of vocal melody to remain, must shew some reason, wherefore the one should be thought a legal ceremony and not the other. Richard Hooker, b. v.
Oft in bands,
While they keep watch, or nightly rounding walk,
With heav'nly touch of instrumental sounds
In full harmonious number join'd, their songs
Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to heav'n. John Milton.Sweet voices, mix'd with instrumental sounds,
Ascend the vaulted roof, the vaulted roof rebounds. Dryd.
ChatGPT
instrumental
Instrumental generally refers to something that serves as a means or tool to achieve a goal or purpose. It can be used in various fields such as music, logic, and philosophy. In music, for example, instrumental refers to musical composition or performance without vocals. In logic or philosophy, it can refer to the belief that actions should be judged based on their outcomes or usefulness.
Webster Dictionary
Instrumentaladjective
acting as an instrument; serving as a means; contributing to promote; conductive; helpful; serviceable; as, he was instrumental in conducting the business
Instrumentaladjective
pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, esp. a musical instrument; as, instrumental music, distinguished from vocal music
Instrumentaladjective
applied to a case expressing means or agency; as, the instrumental case. This is found in Sanskrit as a separate case, but in Greek it was merged into the dative, and in Latin into the ablative. In Old English it was a separate case, but has disappeared, leaving only a few anomalous forms
Etymology: [Cf. F. instrumental.]
Wikidata
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics, or singing, although it might include some inarticulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments. In a song that is otherwise sung, a section not sung but played with instruments can be called an instrumental interlude. If the instruments are percussion instruments, the interlude can be called a percussion interlude. These interludes are a form of break in the song.
Suggested Resources
instrumental
Song lyrics by instrumental -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by instrumental on the Lyrics.com website.
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of instrumental in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of instrumental in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4
Examples of instrumental in a Sentence
People across this city have not been this afraid since the crime spikes in the 90s. Not only has the Mayor not delivered, but she has no plan, i, on the other hand, have a planand the track record to back it up. I was instrumental in banning ghost guns in Illinois, making us the first state in the Midwest to do so.
It was difficult, there was a shortage of liquidity and bureaucracy in moving capital around, but gradually we got used to it and the situation improved, both the state and banks introduced deep structural changes and that was instrumental in regaining trust which allowed controls to be relaxed.
It's definitely possible, and then such a device can be used as a sniffing dog, an instrumental sniffing dog.
The political risks are great. The hardliners still control parliament. They control the security and intelligence forces. They control the apparatus which has been instrumental in keeping these individuals under house arrest.
The quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 when the democratization process was in danger of collapsing as a result of political assassinations and widespread social unrest, it established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war. It was thus instrumental in enabling Tunisia, in the space of a few years, to establish a constitutional system of government guaranteeing fundamental rights for the entire population, irrespective of gender, political conviction or religious belief.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for instrumental
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- دور فعالArabic
- тво́рны склонBelarusian
- творителен падеж, творителенBulgarian
- sedmý pád, instrumentál, instrumentálkaCzech
- medvirkendeDanish
- instrumental, Instrumentalis, Instrumental-KasusGerman
- πειραματική φωνητική, εργαστηριακή φωνητικήGreek
- instrumentajEsperanto
- caso instrumental, instrumentalSpanish
- ابزاریPersian
- instrumentaali, instrumentaalinenFinnish
- instrumentalFrench
- सहायकHindi
- enstrimantalHaitian Creole
- eszközhatározóiHungarian
- գործիականArmenian
- instrumentalIndonesian
- tækisfallIcelandic
- strumentaleItalian
- אינסטרומנטליHebrew
- 具格, 造格Japanese
- მოქმედებითიGeorgian
- ವಾದ್ಯKannada
- 기악, 조격Korean
- instrumentalLatin
- ຊ່ວຍLao
- instrumentinis, įnagininkasLithuanian
- instrumentālisLatvian
- үйлдэхMongolian
- instrumentaal, instrumentalisDutch
- narzędnik, instrumentalnyPolish
- instrumentalPortuguese
- instrumentalRomanian
- творительный падеж, творительныйRussian
- instrumentalSerbo-Croatian
- inštrumentál, siedmy pádSlovak
- orodnikSlovene
- instrumentalAlbanian
- instrumentalSwedish
- கருவியாகTamil
- వాయిద్యTelugu
- nakatulongTagalog
- enstrümental, aletli, aletsel, enstrümantalTurkish
- інструментальнийUkrainian
- آلہ کارUrdu
- nhạc cụVietnamese
- instrumentalYiddish
- 儀器的Chinese
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"instrumental." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 17 Jan. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/instrumental>.
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