Where does “instrumentalist” come from?
Instrumentalist comes from English instrumental plus the Latin agent suffix -ista, from Ancient Greek -ιστής, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European ne through Latin formatives.
instrumentalist (English): One who plays a musical instrument, as...
Definitions
- One who plays a musical instrument, as...
Ancestry of “instrumentalist”, step by step
instrumentalist traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English instrumental
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | instrumental | essential or central; of great importance or... |
| 2 | Middle English | instrumental | Resembling an instrument in role; instrumental;... |
| 3 | Medieval Latin | instrumentalis | instrumental |
| 4 | Latin | īnstrūmentum | An instrument, tool, utensil |
| 5 | Latin | -mentum | instrument, medium, or result of; e.g.... |
| 6 | Latin | -menta | nominative plural of -mentum; accusative plural... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -mn̥ | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs |
via Romanian instrumental
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romanian | instrumental | instrumental |
| 2 | French | instrumental | instrumental; instrumental, instrumental case |
| 3 | Latin | instrumentalis | instrumental |
| 4 | Latin | -ālis | — |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -ālis | forms relational adjectives |