Dictionary

instrumentally en · ADV

Etymology

Etymology tree English instrumental Middle English -ly English -ly English instrumentally From instrumental + -ly.

Meanings

1. By means of an instrument or agency; as means to an end
   • They will argue that the end being essentially beneficial, the means become instrumentally so. 1760–1765, Edmund Burke, Tracts Relative to the Laws against Popery in Ireland
   • Institutionally based, restrictive relationships, such as those among family members or professional colleagues, must thus be contrasted with instrumentally based, nonrestrictive relationships serving the aims of practical pursuits, such as those between freely practicing experts and their clients or between sellers and buyers. In instrumentally structured situations it is not necessary for the participants to curb their needs, because the mere expression of needs in no way compels others to gratify them, as it tends to do in the family. 1974, Thomas S. Szasz, chapter 8, in The Myth of Mental Illness, →ISBN, page 144:
2. With musical instruments
   • an instrumentally accompanied song
   • join in instrumentally
   • In a song that has vocals, the intro is often played instrumentally and serves to establish the overall feel of the song. 2018, Rick Mattingly, Rod Morgenstein, The Drumset Musician:

Forms

Synonyms

instrumently