inst. 
inst. An abbreviation (a) of the adjective in- 
stant; (b) of instrumental. 
instability (in-sta-bil'i-*^ 
= Sp. instabilidad = Pg 
stabilita, < L. instabilita(t-)s,, . 
stabilis, unsteady : see instable.'] The state of 
toeing unstable ; want of stability or firmness, 
physical or moral; liability to fall, fail, give 
way, or suffer change. 
The uncertainty, instability, and fluctuating state of hu- 
man life, which is aptly represented by sailing the ocean. 
Bacon, Physical Fables, u., Expl. 
instablet (in-sta'bl), a. [= F. instable = Sp. 
instable Pg. instavel = It. instabile, < L. in- 
stabitts, unsteady, < in- priv. + stabilis, steady, 
stable : see stable^.'] Not stable ; unstable. 
instablenesst (in-sta'bl-nes), n. Unstablehess; 
instability. Howell. 
install, instal (in-stal'), . J. ; pret. and pp. 
3122 
already been paid, if the buyer makes default in any in- 
stalment. 
instanzia, < L. instantia, a being near, presence, 
also perseverance, earnestness, importunity, 
urgency, LL. also objection, instance, < in- 
stan(t-)s, urgent: see instant.] If. Presence; 
present time. 
Thou ne shall nat demen it as prescience ol thinges to 
comen, but thou shalt demen it more ryjtfully that it is 
science of presence or of instaunce that neuer ne fayleth. 
Chaucer, Boethius, p. 174. 
2. A happening or occurring; occurrence; oc- 
casion : as, it was correct in the first instance; 
a court of first instance (that is, of primary ju- 
risdiction). 3. A case occurring; a case of- 
fered as an exemplification or a precedent ; an 
installed, ppr. installing. [Formerly also en- example ; originally, a case offered to disprove vening . instantaneous. 
.._-!. J T\ .I,.?!-,.. Q.-, ana nfftlfl V ~&C+ OYI r. ..., ^ ,.,,...., i 1 n oci rtT*f 1 f\n Q C! tVlltJ nQ.Q tl ftTYTifill fi(l "1T1 
instanter 
You will bear me out with whatinxtancy 1 besought you 
to depart. R. L. Stevenson, The Dynamiter, p. 146. 
[<OP. (andF.)m- 
instan(t-)s, stand- 
also urgent, impor- 
upon, press upon, 
urge, pursue, insist. < in, on, upon, + stare, 
stand: see state.] I. . 1. Present; current; 
now passing: as, on the 8th of June instant; 
the 10th instant (that is, the 10th day "in the 
present month," Latin instante mense) . [Now rare 
or obsolete except as opposed to ultimo or proximo alter 
the name of a month, or with the word month under- 
stood (then often abbreviated inst.).] 
I never knew 
The perfect treasure thou brought'st with thee more 
Than at this instant minute. 
Middleton, Chaste Maid, it 1. 
The bride-day, you say, is to be on the thirtieth of the 
instant month. " Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, xxxvii. 
2. Immediate ; with no interval of time inter- 
stall; < F. installer = Sp. instalar = Pg. in- 
stallar = It. installare, < ML. installare, put in 
a place or seat; < in, in, + stallum, < OHG. stal, 
a universal assertion : as, this has happened in 
three instances. 
It is almost without instance contradictory, that ever 
Mr Weller, after duly installing Mr. Pickwick and Mr. 
Winkle inside, took his seat on the box by the driver. 
Dickens, Pickwick, xxxix. 
2. To set, place, or instate in an office, rank, or 
order ; invest with any charge, office, or rank 
with the customary ceremonies. 
And, to be had in the more reputacion among the peo- 
ple, he [the cardinal] determined to deinstalled or inthro- 
nised at Yorke with all the pompe that might be. 
Hall, Hen. VIII., an. 22. 
3. To place in position for service or use. [A 
Gallicism.] 
This road has recently been installed by the . . . Elec- 
tric Railway and Motor Company. Science, XIII. 116. 
installation (in-sta-la'shon), n. [< F. instal- 
lation = Sp. instalacion = Pg. instattagcto = It. 
installazione, < ML. installatio(n-), < installare, 
install : see install.'] 1. The act of installing; r 
the formal induction of a person into a rank, the end ol three years, 
an order, or an official position : as, the instal- - - - 
lation of a Knight of the Garter; the installation 
of a clergyman over a charge. In the Church of 
England the installation of a canon or prebendary of a 
cathedral consists in solemnly inducting him into his stall 
in the choir and his place in the chapter. The installation 
ol an archbishop or a bishop is called enthronization. In- 
stallation differs Irom institution, which is the act by 
which a bishop commits the spiritual care of a parish to 
the clergyman nominated, and also from induction into a 
parish, which gives him temporal possession ol the goods 
and income annexed to the cure of souls. In non-epis- 
copal churches installation is a religious service placing 
the minister elect over his particular charge, and ditt'ers 
Irom ordination in that the latter inducts the clergyman 
into the pastoral office generally, while installation places 
him over the particular church or parish to which he is 
called : he is ordained but once ; he is installed whenever 
he takes a new parish. 
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut, 
Full of wise saws and modern instances. 
Shak., As you Like it, ii. 7, 156. 
As to the puff oblique, or puff by implication, it is too 
various and extensive to be illustrated by an instance. 
Sheridan, The Critic, i. 2. 
Hence 4f. Evidence; proof; token. 
I have receiv'd 
A certain instance that Olendower is dead. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iil. 1, 103. 
For instance of thy safety, 
I offer thee my hand. Ford, Perkin Warbeck, i. 3. 
5f. An impelling motive ; influence ; cause. 
But he that temper'd thee bade thee stand up, 
Gave thee no instance why thou shouldst do treason. 
Shale., Hen.V., ii. 2, 119. 
6f. The process of a suit. 
The instance ol a cause is said to be that judicial pro- 
cess which is made from the contestation ol a suit even 
to the time ol pronouncing sentence in the cause, or till 
Ayli/e, Parergon. 
7. In Scots law, that which may be insisted on 
at one diet or course of probation. 8. The act 
or state of being instant or urgent ; insistence ; 
solicitation; urgency. [Now only archaic or 
technical except in the phrase at the instance of.] 
The Duple criede to the Lord with gret instaunce. 
Wyclif, Judith iv. 8 (Oxl.). 
It becomes vs Councellors better to vse instance for our 
friend then for the ludges to sentence at instance. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 235. 
But, Mr. Todd, surely there is no such instance in the 
business that ye could no' wait and look about you. Gait. 
At the instance of, at the solicitation or suggestion of. 
Edmund Earl ol Arundel, John Daniel, and Thomas 
Micheldene, at the Instance of Mortimer, are all three be- 
headed. Baker, Chronicles, p. 112. 
Causes Of instance, causes which proceed at the solici- 
The wreath he won drew down an instant curse. 
Cowper, Charity, 1. 61. 
The victories of character are instant. 
Emerson, Conduct of Life. 
3f. Immediate in succession ; very next. 
Upon the instant morrow of her nuptials. 
Marston, Insatiate Countesse, v. 
2. A placing in position for service or use; also, 
a complete mechanical apparatus or "plant" in 
position and ready for use : especially used of stance court, a branch of the former court of admiralty 
_t _l.__^ _. __i rA *-<_li:..; "1 ;,, l'i ,,,'l.. i,. I .1iofiii.i- frr,m flip Y\ri7p-fmirt, .lnH bavins' illl'IR- 
tation of some party. For instance, for example : in- _ 
troducing a case to illustrate a general statement. In- instantt (m Slant), V. t. 
4. Insistent; urgent; earnest; pressing. [Ob- 
solete or archaic.] 
Preach the word ; be instant in season, out of season. 
2 Tim. iv. 2. 
We are too much wearied and disquieted with the im- 
portunate and instant complaints ol our subiects. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 161. 
Say our rites are instant. B. Jonson, Sejanus, v. 1. 
II. M. 1. A particular point of time regarded 
as present. 
I can, at any unseasonable instant of the night, appoint 
her to look out at her lady's chamber-window. 
Shak., Much Ado, ii. 2, 16. 
The great rule, methinks, should be, to manage the in- 
stant in which we stand with fortitude, equanimity, and 
moderation. Steele, Spectator, No. 374. 
2. A point in duration; a moment ; a very small 
period or interval of time : as, he will return in 
an instant. 
This gracious all-commanding beauty fades in an in- 
stant. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 636. 
An instant . . . is that which takes up the time of only 
one idea in our minds without the succession of another, 
wherein therefore we perceive no succession at all. 
Locke, Human Understanding, II. xiv. 10. 
St. Application; instance. 
Upon her instant unto the Romanes for aide. 
Holland, tr. ol Camden, p. 687. 
= Syn. 2. Minute, etc. Bee moment. 
instantt (in'stant), adv. [< instant, a.] Instant- 
ly; very soon. 
Here he will instant be ; let's walk a turn. 
B. Jonson, Sejanus, i. 2. 
Instant he flew with hospitable haste. 
Pope, Odyssey, i. 157. 
[< OF. instanter, press 
electrical apparatus. [A Gallicism.] 
instalment, installment (in-stal'ment), n. [< 
install + -ment.] 1. The act of installing or 
giving possession of an office with the usual 
ceremonies or solemnities ; installation. 
The instalment ol this noble duke 
In the seat royal. Shak., Rich. III., lii. 1, 163. 
2. The seat in which one is installed. [Bare 
The several chairs ol order look you scour 
With juice ol balm and every precious flower. 
Each lair instalment, coat, and several crest, 
With loyal blazon, evermore be bless'd ! 
Shak., M. W. ol W., v. B, 67. 
8. A partial payment on account of a debt due ; 
one of several parts into which a debt is divided 
for payment at different times : as, to pay for a 
purchase by or in instalments; to sell goods on 
instalments (that is, on condition of taking pay 
by instalments, sometimes with a stipulation 
that in default of payment of an instalment the 
seller may retake the goods and keep by way of 
forfeiture what has been paid). 4. A part of 
anything produced or furnished in advance of 
the remainder ; one of a number of parts pro- 
duced at different times : as, to publish a novel 
or to deliver stores in or by instalments. 
An acquisition of exclusive privilege may be an asser- 
tion ol a right which, if the surrounding classes were al- 
in England, distinct from the prize-court, and having juris- 
diction in cases ol maritime contracts and torts committed 
at sea, or intimately connected with maritime subjects. 
See admiralty court, under admiralty. Instance side Of 
the court, a district court ol the United States sitting in 
the exercise of its ordinary jurisdiction in admiralty to de- 
upon, < L. instants, pp. of instare, press upon: 
see instant, a.] To importune ; urge. 
Pilate would shed no innocent blood, but laboured to 
mitigate the bishops' fury, and instanted them, as they 
were religious, to shew godly favour. 
Bp. Bale, Select Works, p. 242. 
or confirmation; mention as an example. 
I shall not instance an abstruse author. 
Milton, Eikonoklastes. 
It is not a natural, but a religious sobriety, and may be 
instanced in fasting or abstinence from some kinds ol 
meat. Jer. Taylor, Works, I., Prel. 
He instances some lewd Practices at Feasts, and by the 
bye touches the Nobility. 
Congrem, tr. ol Juvenal's Satires, xi., Arg. 
2. To furnish an instance or example of; ex- 
emplify; manifest. [Rare.] 
Never think yourself sale because you dp your duty in 
ninety-nine points ; it is the hundredth which is to be the 
ground of your self-denial, which must evidence, or rather 
Slienstone. 
ne-us), a. [< ML. 
L. instan(t-)s, 
instant : see instant and -aneous. Cf . inomen- 
taneous, contemporaneous, etc.] 1. Done or pro- 
duced in an instant ; occurring or acting with- 
out any perceptible lapse of time. 
The work is done by instantaneous call ; 
Converts at once are made, or not at all. 
Crabbe, Works, II. 65. 
2. In mech., existing in or referring to an in- 
stant of time; momentary: as, instantaneous 
position, displacement, velocity, acceleration, 
etc. (that is, the position, etc., at any instant). 
Instantaneous axis, instantaneous sliding axis. 
See uzixi. Instantaneous center of rolling. See cen- 
"[),adt: In 
a moment; in an 
an 
, 
ready free, would look like usurpation, but which, whe 
they are downtrodden, gives a glimpse and is itself an in- 
stalment of liberty. Stubbs, Const. Hist., 485. 
Instalment plan, a system adopted by some traders in 
instance and realize, your laith. VroiV7;,,"irfaYi"t5'Vr5 
J. H.Newman, Parochial Sermons, i. 68. instantaneously (i a ne-i ,-il), 
II. t intrans. To take or receive example or ex- 
amples; give or find illustration: followed by in. 
This story doth not only instance in kingdoms, but in 
families too. Jer. Taylor. 
A teacher ... (I might instance in St. Patrick's dean) 
Too often rails to gratify his spleen. 
Coirper, Charity, 1. 499. 
(in-stan-ta'ne-us-nes), n. 
The character of being instantaneous. 
instantanyt, a. [< ML. "instanttmeve : see in- 
stantaneous.'] Instantaneous. 
An instantany and entire creation ol the world. 
substantial articles', such as furniture, sewing-machines, ,.*.,___ /i_/ i c , ;\ ,, Tnot^i'ir-p insistpnr-v ftp. HoJf, Oases of Conscience, 111. 10. 
pianos, etc., by which the seller retains the ownership un- instancy (m stau-si), n. Instance, insistency. ....... , tf ,_/ t A,', a ., v r< T, instanter ur- 
til payment, and stipulates for the right to retake the Those heavenly precepts which our Lord and Saviour instanter (in-stan Ur), aiti. \ 
article, without return of some or any part of what has with so great instancy gave. Hooter, Eocles. Polity, i. 10. gently, pressmgly, ML. also presently, at ice, 
