instruct
nounEtymology From Latin īnstrūctus, perfect passive participle of īnstruō (“I instruct; I arrange, furnish, or provide”).
1
Obsolete Instruction.
instruct
verbUK, US /ɪnˈstɹʌkt/ · AU /ɪnˈstɹakt/
Etymology From Latin īnstrūctus, perfect passive participle of īnstruō (“I instruct; I arrange, furnish, or provide”).
1
To teach by giving instructions.
- Listen carefully when someone instructs you how to assemble the furniture.
- Supply me with the habit and instruct me How I may formally in person bear me Like a true friar.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
4 more examples
- What a dishonour’s this, to me, to have so Dull a Father, that needs to be instructed in his Duty.1682, Aphra Behn, The False Count, London: Jacob Tonson, act III, scene 2, page 33:
- 1751, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 156, 14 September, 1751, in Volume 5, London: J. Payne and J. Bouquet, 1752, p. 177, […] the design of tragedy is to instruct by moving the passions,
- […] I should deem you a man sore sick, it may be, yet not so sick but that an instructed and watchful physician might well hope to cure you.1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “chapter 10”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
- At the Laundromat I instruct Chris on how to operate the drier, start the washing machines […]1974, Robert M[aynard] Pirsig, chapter 29, in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow & Company, →ISBN, part 4, page 353:
2
To tell (someone) what they must or should do.
- Usage note: "instruct" is less forceful than "order", but weightier than "advise"
- The doctor instructed me to keep my arm immobilised and begin physiotherapy.
3 more examples
- What, shall a child instruct you what to do?1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
- All the servants were instructed to address her as “Mum,” or “Madam” […]1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 39, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
- Observing that the Christ Child’s nose was running, she deftly wiped it; then she held the handkerchief in place, while instructing him to “blow.”1989, John Irving, chapter 5, in A Prayer for Owen Meany, New York: Ballantine, published 1997, page 195:
3
To give (one's own lawyer) legal instructions as to how they should act in relation to a particular issue; thereby formally appointing them as one's own legal representative in relation to it.
- If you're not careful, I'm going to instruct a solicitor over this.
- Derived terms
- instructability, instructee, instructer, instructology, instructory, misinstruct, preinstruct, uninstructing
- Related terms
- instructable, instructible, instruction, instructive, instructor, instructress, overinstruct, reinstruct, underinstruct, uninstructed