Instruction
nounA direction or order telling someone how to do something or what to do.
How to spell instruction
11 letters · 3 syllables
How to pronounce instruction
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does instruction mean?
- nounA direction or order telling someone how to do something or what to do.
- nounThe act of teaching or imparting knowledge and skills.
Instruction in a sentence
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The assembly instruction explained how to fit the shelf together.
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The driving course offered ten hours of professional instruction.
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Staff followed every safety instruction during the fire drill.
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She credited her early piano instruction for her confidence on stage.
Where does instruction come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word comes from the Latin instructio, meaning a building up, an arrangement, or a setting in order. That noun was formed from the verb instruere, which literally meant to build into or to pile up, combining the prefix in- (into, toward) with struere (to build or arrange). From the concrete idea of constructing or equipping something, the sense broadened to equipping the mind, that is, teaching and informing. English borrowed it through Old French instruction in the 1300s, when it carried the meaning of teaching or knowledge imparted. The same struere root sits inside familiar relatives such as structure, construct, and destruction, which is a handy reminder that the silent-feeling middle is spelled str-u-ct, not -struc with anything missing.
How the word is built
- in- (toward, into)
- struct (from struere: to build, pile up)
- -ion (noun suffix)
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