instruction

instruction

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for instruction in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)

Etymology

From Middle English instruccioun, from Old French instruccion, from Latin instructio; equivalent to instruct +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌkʃən

Noun

instruction (countable and uncountable, plural instructions)

1. (uncountable) The act of instructing, teaching, or furnishing with information or knowledge.

   Students receive instruction in the arts and sciences.

   Instruction will be provided on how to handle difficult customers.

   • 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 5, in Pulling the Strings:

     Anstruther laughed good-naturedly. “[…] I shall take out half a dozen intelligent maistries from our Press and get them to give our villagers instruction when they begin work and when they are in the fields.”

2. (countable) An instance of the information or knowledge so furnished.
   • 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 606515358, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     If my instructions may be your guide.

3. (countable) An order or command.
   • 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619:

     Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.

4. (computing) A single operation of a processor defined by an instruction set architecture.
5. A set of directions provided by a manufacturer for the users of a product or service.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:instruction

Translations

act of instructing, teaching, or furnishing with knowledge; information

Arabic: تَعْلِيم‎ (ar) m (taʿlīm) Bengali: তালিম (bn) (talim) Bulgarian: обучение (bg) n (obučenie), инструктаж (bg) m (instruktaž) Catalan: instrucció (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 指令 (zh) (zhǐlìng), 指示 (zh) (zhǐshì), 教導／教导 (zh) (jiàodǎo) Danish: vejledning c Dutch: onderwijs (nl) n Egyptian: (sbꜣyt f) Esperanto: instruado Finnish: opastus (fi), opettaminen (fi), ohjaaminen (fi) French: instruction (fr) f German: Unterricht (de) m Greek: οδηγία (el) f (odigía), εκπαίδευση (el) f (ekpaídefsi), εντολή (el) f (entolí), κατάρτιση (el) f (katártisi) Hebrew: הוראה‎ (he) f (Hora'ah) Hindi: तालीम (hi) f (tālīm), उपदेश (hi) m (updeś), शिक्षण (hi) m (śikṣaṇ) Indonesian: instruksi (id) Irish: teagasc m Italian: istruzione (it) f, addestramento (it) m, insegnamento (it) m, tirocinio (it) m Japanese: 指示 (ja) (しじ, shiji), 教訓 (ja) (きょうくん, kyōkun) Kazakh: нұсқаулық (nūsqaulyq) Kyrgyz: нускама (nuskama) Latin: īnstructiō f, doctrina f, disciplina f, auditio Malay: arahan (ms) Malayalam: നിർദ്ദേശം (niṟddēśaṃ) Norwegian: veiledning Persian: آموزه‎ (fa), آموزش‎ (fa) Portuguese: instrução (pt) f Romanian: instruire (ro) f, învățare (ro) f, învățământ (ro) n Russian: инстру́кция (ru) f (instrúkcija), инструкта́ж (ru) m (instruktáž), наставле́ние (ru) n (nastavlénije), обуче́ние (ru) n (obučénije) Sanskrit: शिक्षण (sa) n (śikṣaṇa) Scottish Gaelic: stiùireadh m, teagasg m Swahili: agizo (sw) Swedish: instruktion (sv) c, undervisning (sv) c, skolväsen (sv) n or c Tocharian B: keklyauṣor Urdu: اُپْدیش‎ (ur) m (updeś)

that which instructs, or with which one is instructed

Bulgarian: инструкция (bg) f (instrukcija), указание (bg) n (ukazanie) Danish: vejlederen c Finnish: opastus (fi), ohje (fi) German: Anweisung (de) f Greek: οδηγία (el) f (odigía), συμβουλή (el) f (symvoulí) Irish: treoir f Japanese: インストラクション (insutorakushon), 命令 (ja) (めいれい, meirei) Portuguese: instrução (pt) f Romanian: instrucțiune (ro) f, indicație (ro) f, învățătură (ro) f, îndrumare (ro) f Russian: инстру́кция (ru) f (instrúkcija), (usually plural) указа́ние (ru) n (ukazánije), (usually plural) предписа́ние (ru) n (predpisánije), (usually plural) распоряже́ние (ru) n (rasporjažénije) Scottish Gaelic: stiùireadh m, teagasg m Spanish: instrucción (es) Swedish: instruktör (sv) c

order or command

Bulgarian: директива (bg) f (direktiva) Catalan: encàrrec (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Dutch: aanwijzing (nl) f Esperanto: komando, instrukcio Estonian: please add this translation if you can Finnish: käyttöohje (fi) French: instruction (fr) f German: Anweisung (de) f Hindi: हुक्म (hi) m (hukma) Indonesian: instruksi (id) Latvian: please add this translation if you can Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Malayalam: നിർദ്ദേശം (niṟddēśaṃ) Palauan: llach Persian: دستور‎ (fa), فرمان‎ (fa) Swahili: agizo (sw) class 5/6

single operation of a processor

Bulgarian: инструкция (bg) (instrukcija) Catalan: instrucció (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: instrukce (cs) f Dutch: instructie (nl) f Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Estonian: please add this translation if you can Finnish: käsky (fi) German: Assemblerbefehl m Greek: εντολή (el) f (entolí) Hebrew: הוראה‎ (he) f (Hora'ah) Indonesian: instruksi (id) Irish: treoir f Italian: istruzione (it) f Latvian: please add this translation if you can Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Persian: راهنمال‎ (fa) Portuguese: instrução (pt) f Romanian: instrucțiune (ro) f Russian: инстру́кция (ru) f (instrúkcija) Swahili: agizo (sw) Swedish: instruktion (sv) c

set of directions provided by a manufacturer

Bulgarian: инструкция (bg) f (instrukcija) Finnish: käyttöohje (fi) Hungarian: használati utasítás (hu) Italian: bugiardino (it) m, istruzioni d'uso f pl, manuale d'uso m, manuale (it) m, avvertenze (it) f pl, direttive (it) f pl

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: (please verify) instruo Volapük: (please verify) tid (vo)

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French

Etymology

From Latin īnstrūctiō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃s.tʁyk.sjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

instruction f (plural instructions)

1. instruction
2. teaching
3. hearing (of a matter in court or similar)

Derived terms

• juge d'instruction

Related terms

• instruire

Further reading

• “instruction”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.