instar
English
WOTD – 14 December 2012, 14 December 2014
Etymology 1
An instar of the mayfly Cloeon dipterum
From Latin instar (“form, likeness”), which is of obscure origin.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɪnstɑː/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈɪnstɑɹ/
- Hyphenation: in‧star
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
instar (plural instars)
- Any one of the several stages of postembryonic development which an arthropod undergoes, between molts, before it reaches sexual maturity.
- An arthropod at a specified one of these stages of development.
- 2005, Nematodes as biocontrol agents, Parwinder S. Grewal, Ralf-Udo Ehlers, David I. Shapiro-Ilan, editor,(Please provide the book title or journal name), page 133:
- In A. orientalis, first and second instars were more susceptible than third instars to H. bacteriophora TF strain, […]
-
- (by extension) A stage in development.
- 1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (Crest Giant; D338), Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications, published December 1959, OCLC 768447:
- We avoided Tourist Homes, country cousins of Funeral ones, old-fashioned, genteel and showerless, with elaborate dressing tables in depressingly white-and-pink little bedrooms, and photographs of the landlady’s children in all their instars.
- 2014 January 8, Caleb Crain, “The Democratic Personality”, in The New Yorker:
- California spirituality is a late instar of America’s utopian impulse, and corporate meritocracy derives from the Whig dream of the self-made man that entranced young Abraham Lincoln.
-
Translations
stage in the development of arthropods
|
arthropod at a specified one of these stages
|
by extension: development stage
|
Etymology 2
From in- + star.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ɪnˈstɑː/
Audio (UK) (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /ɪnˈstɑɹ/
- Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)
Verb
instar (third-person singular simple present instars, present participle instarring, simple past and past participle instarred)
- (transitive, archaic) To stud or adorn with stars or other brilliants; to star.
- 1882, Frederick Randolph Abbe, The Temple Rebuilt: A Poem, page 125:
- Yet mark with shining steps the humbler way;
And, as angelic feet instar the sky,
Drop the bright sparks along the wilderness.
- 1893, The Atlantic Monthly, volume 72, page 507:
- Espey could distinguish through the clear darkness the fringed branches of a pine-tree clinging to the heights above and waving against the instarred sky, and below a vague moving whiteness […]
- 1896, Mary Noailles Murfree (pseudonym Charles Egbert Craddock), In the Tennessee mountains, 14 edition, page 209:
- He was dreaming, surely; or were those deep, instarred eyes really fixed upon him with that wistful gaze which he had seen only twice before?
-
- (transitive) To make a star of; set as a star.
Anagrams
- S-train, Sartin, Strain, Tarins, Trains, atrins, santir, sartin, starin', strain, tairns, tarins, trains
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin īnstar (“equivalent”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛ̃s.taʁ/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: in‧star
Noun
instar
- Only used in à l'instar de (“just like”)
Derived terms
- à l'instar de
Further reading
- “instar”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin
Etymology
Of obscure origin.[1][2] Perhaps from a metaphor meaning 'to stand close to', thereby semantically related to ἔχθαρ.[3]
This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈin.star/, [ˈĩːs̠t̪är]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈin.star/, [ˈinst̪är]
Noun
īnstar n sg (indeclinable, no genitive)
- image, likeness, resemblance
- counterpart
- worth, value
- an equal form (of)
- of equal weight/size/form (to)
- 1539 CE, Olaus Magnus, Carta Marina, marginal note.
- Quia, optime lector, Scandiana insula apud Plinium alter orbis terrarum, et a Iordane Gotho ac Paulo Diacono vagina sive officina gentium appellatur, plurimique populi (ut omnis scriptorum turba testatur) ex ea instar apum vel inundantium aquarum exiere, utile putavi nomina aliquarum gentium inde egressarum subiecta pagina indicare.
- Since, dear reader, the isle of Scandinavia is called another world in Pliny's works, and since it is called by Jordanes the Goth and Paul the Deacon a womb or manufacturing-room of ethnic groups, and since numerous peoples (as any group of scholars can attest) descended from there like a swarm of bees or floodwaters, I thought it useful to indicate, on the page below, the names of various ethnic groups that originated there.
- 1539 CE, Olaus Magnus, Carta Marina, marginal note.
Declension
Not declined; used only in the nominative and accusative singular, singular only.
| Case | Singular |
|---|---|
| Nominative | īnstar |
| Genitive | — |
| Dative | — |
| Accusative | īnstar |
| Ablative | — |
| Vocative | — |
Descendants
- → English: instar
- → French: instar
References
- “instar”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “instar”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- instar in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- Eduard Wölfflin, Archiv für Lateinische Lexikographie und Grammatik mit Einschluß des älteren Mittellateins, Band 2, pp. 581-597,
- Menge, Burkard, et al., Lehrbuch der lateinischen Syntax und Semantik, p. 13.
- Puhvel, ‘Greek Ἔχϑαρ and Latin Instar’.
Portuguese
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin īnstāre.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ĩsˈta(ʁ)/ [ĩsˈta(h)]
- (São Paulo) IPA(key): /ĩsˈta(ɾ)/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /ĩʃˈta(ʁ)/ [ĩʃˈta(χ)]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ĩsˈta(ɻ)/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ĩʃˈtaɾ/
Verb
instar (first-person singular present insto, first-person singular preterite instei, past participle instado) (intransitive)
- to urge [+ com (someone)]
- to insist [+ por (object) = on], to ask insistently for
- to question insistently, to interrogate [+ a (someone)]
- to be imminent, to lurk
- to be urgent or necessary
Conjugation
Conjugation of instar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)
| Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-person (eu) | Second-person (tu) | Third-person (ele / ela / você) | First-person (nós) | Second-person (vós) | Third-person (eles / elas / vocês) | |
| Infinitive | ||||||
| Impersonal | instar | |||||
| Personal | instar | instares | instar | instarmos | instardes | instarem |
| Gerund | ||||||
| instando | ||||||
| Past participle | ||||||
| Masculine | instado | instados | ||||
| Feminine | instada | instadas | ||||
| Indicative | ||||||
| Present | insto | instas | insta | instamos | instais | instam |
| Imperfect | instava | instavas | instava | instávamos | instáveis | instavam |
| Preterite | instei | instaste | instou | instamos1, instámos2 | instastes | instaram |
| Pluperfect | instara | instaras | instara | instáramos | instáreis | instaram |
| Future | instarei | instarás | instará | instaremos | instareis | instarão |
| Conditional | ||||||
| instaria | instarias | instaria | instaríamos | instaríeis | instariam | |
| Subjunctive | ||||||
| Present | inste | instes | inste | instemos | insteis | instem |
| Imperfect | instasse | instasses | instasse | instássemos | instásseis | instassem |
| Future | instar | instares | instar | instarmos | instardes | instarem |
| Imperative | ||||||
| Affirmative | insta | inste | instemos | instai | instem | |
| Negative (não) | não instes | não inste | não instemos | não insteis | não instem | |
1Brazil.
2Portugal.
References
- “instar” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2023.
- “instar” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
Spanish
Etymology
From Latin īnstō (“urge, insist”) whence English instant.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /insˈtaɾ/ [ĩnsˈt̪aɾ]
- Rhymes: -aɾ
- Syllabification: ins‧tar
Verb
instar (first-person singular present insto, first-person singular preterite insté, past participle instado)
- (intransitive) to urge (press someone to do something soon)
- Synonyms: urgir, apretar
- (transitive) to insist (repeat a plea)
- Synonym: insistir
Conjugation
Conjugation of instar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)
| infinitive | instar | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gerund | instando | ||||||
| past participle | masculine | feminine | |||||
| singular | instado | instada | |||||
| plural | instados | instadas | |||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
| indicative | yo | tú vos | él/ella/ello usted | nosotros nosotras | vosotros vosotras | ellos/ellas ustedes | |
| present | insto | instastú instásvos | insta | instamos | instáis | instan | |
| imperfect | instaba | instabas | instaba | instábamos | instabais | instaban | |
| preterite | insté | instaste | instó | instamos | instasteis | instaron | |
| future | instaré | instarás | instará | instaremos | instaréis | instarán | |
| conditional | instaría | instarías | instaría | instaríamos | instaríais | instarían | |
| subjunctive | yo | tú vos | él/ella/ello usted | nosotros nosotras | vosotros vosotras | ellos/ellas ustedes | |
| present | inste | instestú instésvos2 | inste | instemos | instéis | insten | |
| imperfect (ra) | instara | instaras | instara | instáramos | instarais | instaran | |
| imperfect (se) | instase | instases | instase | instásemos | instaseis | instasen | |
| future1 | instare | instares | instare | instáremos | instareis | instaren | |
| imperative | — | tú vos | usted | nosotros nosotras | vosotros vosotras | ustedes | |
| affirmative | instatú instávos | inste | instemos | instad | insten | ||
| negative | no instes | no inste | no instemos | no instéis | no insten | ||
1Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
2Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.
Selected combined forms of instar
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
| with infinitive instar | |||||||
| dative | instarme | instarte | instarle, instarse | instarnos | instaros | instarles, instarse | |
| accusative | instarme | instarte | instarlo, instarla, instarse | instarnos | instaros | instarlos, instarlas, instarse | |
| with gerund instando | |||||||
| dative | instándome | instándote | instándole, instándose | instándonos | instándoos | instándoles, instándose | |
| accusative | instándome | instándote | instándolo, instándola, instándose | instándonos | instándoos | instándolos, instándolas, instándose | |
| with informal second-person singular tú imperative insta | |||||||
| dative | ínstame | ínstate | ínstale | ínstanos | not used | ínstales | |
| accusative | ínstame | ínstate | ínstalo, ínstala | ínstanos | not used | ínstalos, ínstalas | |
| with informal second-person singular vos imperative instá | |||||||
| dative | instame | instate | instale | instanos | not used | instales | |
| accusative | instame | instate | instalo, instala | instanos | not used | instalos, instalas | |
| with formal second-person singular imperative inste | |||||||
| dative | ínsteme | not used | ínstele, ínstese | ínstenos | not used | ínsteles | |
| accusative | ínsteme | not used | ínstelo, ínstela, ínstese | ínstenos | not used | ínstelos, ínstelas | |
| with first-person plural imperative instemos | |||||||
| dative | not used | instémoste | instémosle | instémonos | instémoos | instémosles | |
| accusative | not used | instémoste | instémoslo, instémosla | instémonos | instémoos | instémoslos, instémoslas | |
| with informal second-person plural imperative instad | |||||||
| dative | instadme | not used | instadle | instadnos | instaos | instadles | |
| accusative | instadme | not used | instadlo, instadla | instadnos | instaos | instadlos, instadlas | |
| with formal second-person plural imperative insten | |||||||
| dative | ínstenme | not used | ínstenle | ínstennos | not used | ínstenles, ínstense | |
| accusative | ínstenme | not used | ínstenlo, ínstenla | ínstennos | not used | ínstenlos, ínstenlas, ínstense | |
Related terms
- instancia
Further reading
- “instar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014