instrumental

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɪnstɹəˈmɛntəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #4863

Meanings

1

adj
Playing an important part in making something happen.

She was instrumental in solving the crime.
2

adj
Made for or performed on musical instruments rather than the voice.

He prefers instrumental music with no lyrics.
3

noun
A piece of music performed without any singing.

The album closes with a beautiful piano instrumental.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · playing an important part... subservient

Opposites

noninstrumental

Word family

Forms instrumentally

Derived forms instrumentalisationinstrumentalisminstrumentalist instrumentalityinstrumentalizeinstrumentallyinstrumentalnessinstrumentationinstrumentiveuninstrumental

Related forms instrument

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

instrumental music
music performed on instruments without singing

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English instrumental, instrumentale, from Medieval Latin īnstrūmentālis, equivalent to instrument + -al.

instrumental Middle English īnstrūmentālis la-med

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# instrumental

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ɪnstɹəˈmɛntəl/
**Frequency rank:** 4863

## Meanings
1. Playing an important part in making something happen.
2. Made for or performed on musical instruments rather than the voice.
3. A piece of music performed without any singing.

## Examples
- She was instrumental in solving the crime.
- He prefers instrumental music with no lyrics.
- The album closes with a beautiful piano instrumental.

## Antonyms
- noninstrumental

## Derived Forms
- instrumentalisation
- instrumentalism
- instrumentalist
- instrumentality
- instrumentalize
- instrumentally
- instrumentalness
- instrumentation
- instrumentive
- uninstrumental

## Related Forms
- instrument

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: instrumental
- Root: īnstrūmentālis

## Etymology
From Middle English instrumental, instrumentale, from Medieval Latin īnstrūmentālis, equivalent to instrument + -al.

## AI Etymology
Instrumental comes from Middle English instrumental, instrumentale, from Medieval Latin īnstrūmentālis, equivalent to instrument + -al. The historical chain includes instrumental (Middle English) and īnstrūmentālis (Medieval Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as instrumentalisation, instrumentalism, instrumentalist, and instrumentality and related forms such as instrument. In present use it covers playing an important part in making something happen, made for or performed on musical instruments rather than the voice, and a piece of music performed without any singing.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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