instruct
/ɪnˈstɹʌkt/ verb, noun, adjective
Forms instructs instructing instructed
- verb (transitive) To teach by giving instructions. “Listen carefully when someone instructs you how to assemble the furniture.”
- verb (transitive) To tell (someone) what they must or should do. “The doctor instructed me to keep my arm immobilised and begin physiotherapy.”
- verb (transitive) 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.”
- noun (obsolete) Instruction.
- adjective (obsolete) Arranged; furnished; provided.
- adjective (obsolete) Instructed; taught; enlightened.
Synonyms
educate guide command direct order teach learn apprise apprize
Etymology
From Latin īnstrūctus, perfect passive participle of īnstruō (“I instruct; I arrange, furnish, or provide”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Arranged; furnished; provided. [Obs.] "He had neither ship instruct with oars, nor men." Chapman.
- adjective Instructed; taught; enlightened. [Obs.] Milton.
- verb To put in order; to form; to prepare. [Obs.]
- verb To form by communication of knowledge; to inform the mind of; to impart knowledge or information to; to enlighten; to teach; to discipline.
Etymology [L. instructus, p. p. of instruere to furnish, provide, construct, instruct; pref. in- in, struere. See Structure.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “instruct”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details