instance

UK/ˈɪnstəns/US/ˈɪnstəns/

nounB23 meanings Very common — you will meet it every day · #1,735 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: instances

An instance is one single case of something, one time it happened. A doctor notes three instances of the same rash in a week; a report lists every instance of the fault.

The phrase you meet most is 'for instance', which does the same work as 'for example' and stands in the same places: 'Take a big city, London for instance.' 'In the first instance' is formal English for as the first step, as in write to the manager in the first instance. Lawyers speak of a court of first instance, the one that hears a case before any appeal. In computing, an instance is one running copy of a program or a server, and you spin one up. Keep it clear of instant, which is a moment of time; the two are relatives doing different jobs.

Definitions of instance

1nouninstanceA single example or occurrence of something.B2~71%
“There were four instances of the same mistake on one page.”
synonyms: example, case, occurrence
2nounstageA stage in a process or in a legal case.C1~21%
“Complaints go to your line manager in the first instance.”
3nounrunningA single running copy of a program, a server or a database.C1~8%
“The team runs three instances of the service in different regions.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 24 sentences found in the wild and placed 24 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

instance is an example.

Phrases it lives in

for instance — for example, in speech and in writing alike
in the first instance — as the first step

Where it comes from

Instance came from Middle French instance and Latin instantia, which meant a being near or present, and also urgency and insistence. Behind it stands instans, 'urgent', the very word that gives English instant. So instance and instant are siblings: one turned into a moment, the other into a case.

Latin
īnstantia — a being near, presence, also perseverance, earnestness, importunity, urgency
Middle French
instance
English, today
instance

Built from

īnstāns · Latin — urgent

Middle French instance, from Latin īnstantia (“a being near, presence, also perseverance, earnestness, importunity, urgency”), from īnstāns (“urgent”); see instant.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove, Word Building

First appears in chapter 5 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

instance in the wild

Object state can differ between each instance of the class whereas the class state is shared by all of them.
Class (programming)
There are instances of concept A which are not instances of concept B.
Generalization
A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place.
Trial court
The Court of First Instance is the highest court in Hong Kong that can hear cases at first instance with unlimited jurisdiction in both civil and criminal matters.
Hong Kong Court of First Instance
For instance, crossing a border to buy goods instead of making the same purchase from local shops.
Leakage (retail)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the īnstāns family

instance instant

instance — used about once every 201 pages · #1,735 · point at the bar for the others

Definitions of instance

1nouninstanceA single example or occurrence of something.B2~71%

“There were four instances of the same mistake on one page.”

synonyms: example, case, occurrence

2nounstageA stage in a process or in a legal case.C1~21%

“Complaints go to your line manager in the first instance.”

3nounrunningA single running copy of a program, a server or a database.C1~8%

“The team runs three instances of the service in different regions.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 24 sentences found in the wild and placed 24 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

instance is an example.