Instance

How to spell instance

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce instance

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does instance mean?

1. nounA particular example, occurrence, or single case of something.

Instance in a sentence

• The report cites one instance where the procedure failed.

• For instance, many staff prefer to work from home on Fridays.

Where does instance come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin instantia, meaning 'a standing near' or 'presence', formed from the verb instare, 'to stand upon' or 'to press upon', which combines in- ('upon') with stare ('to stand'). In medieval Latin and law, instantia took on the sense of an 'urgent request' or a particular point pressed in argument, and that is how it first entered English through Old French in the 1300s, originally meaning 'urgency' or 'insistence'. From the idea of a pressing matter brought forward, English developed the modern meaning of a single case or example offered for consideration, as in 'for instance'. The Latin stare also lies behind a large family of English words such as 'stand', 'stable', and 'circumstance', all sharing that root sense of standing. The spelling trap is the unstressed ending: the -ance is easy to mishear as -ence, and the silent flow of the schwa hides which vowel belongs there.

How the word is built

• in- (toward, upon)
• sta (from Latin stare: to stand)
• -ance (noun suffix)