English
instruction
Instruction comes from Latin īnstrūctiō ‘an instruction, training’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnstrūctiō‘an instruction, training’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400instruccion
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500instruccioun
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604instruction
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnstrūctiō‘an instruction, training’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400instruccion
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500instruccioun
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604instruction
Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure: “If my instructions may be your guide.”
A compound of in- + struō ‘to place one thing on top of another, to pile…’ + īnstruō ‘to build in or into, insert’
Proto-Indo-European *strew- ‘to spread, strew’
Proto-Indo-European *stréweti
Proto-Italic *strowō ‘to pile up’
Latin struō ‘to place one thing on top of another, to pile up, join together’
Proto-Indo-European *strew- ‘to spread, strew’
Proto-Indo-European *stréweti
Proto-Italic *strowō ‘to pile up’
Latin struō ‘to place one thing on top of another, to pile up, join together’
Latin īnstruō ‘to build in or into, insert’
Every English word from Latin īnstrūctiō
Today it means
noun The act of instructing, teaching, or providing with information or knowledge.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin īnstrūctiō / instruction