Instrumental

How to spell instrumental

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce instrumental

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does instrumental mean?

1. adjectiveServing as an important means or contributing factor in bringing something about.
2. adjectivePerformed by or written for musical instruments, without any singing or vocals.

Instrumental in a sentence

• Her research was instrumental in securing the new funding.

• The cafe played soft instrumental music while customers worked on their laptops.

• The senior manager was instrumental in turning the failing branch around.

• He prefers the instrumental version of the song because the lyrics distract him from studying.

Where does instrumental come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin verb instruere, which literally meant 'to build into' or 'to equip and arrange', formed from the prefix in- 'into, upon' and struere 'to pile up, build'. From this came the noun instrumentum, meaning a tool, implement, or piece of equipment used to get something done. By the Middle Ages the Latin adjective instrumentalis described anything serving as a means or tool, and English borrowed the word through Old French in the late 1300s. The musical sense, referring to sound produced by instruments rather than the voice, grew naturally from the same idea of an instrument as a device for making something happen. The same struere root sits inside familiar relatives such as 'structure', 'construct', and 'destroy', which is a useful reminder that the tricky middle of the word is spelled with 'stru', not 'ster'.

How the word is built

• instru- (from instruere: to build, equip, arrange)
• -ment (noun suffix denoting means or result)
• -al (adjective suffix)