Instruere

Instruere is a Latin verb meaning to put in order, equip, train, or instruct. It covers senses from furnishing with weapons or provisions to arranging or drawing up a plan, and to teaching or shaping someone’s knowledge or abilities. In classical usage it can refer to practical preparation as well as formal instruction, including the training of troops or the setting up of camps, as in the phrase instruere castra.

Etymology and principal parts: instruere comes from in- “into, on” and struere “to heap, build.” It belongs to the third conjugation. Principal parts are instruo, instruere, instruxi, instructum. The present indicative is instruo, instruis, instruit, instruimus, instruitis, instruunt; the perfect is instruxi; the supine is instructum. The participle is instructus.

Usage and nuance: instruere is transitive and often takes an object indicating what is being arranged, equipped, or taught (for example, castra, milites, disciplinam). It can convey both practical provisioning and intellectual instruction. In some contexts it emphasises furnishing knowledge or abilities, whereas other verbs like docere focus more narrowly on teaching; instruere can also imply preparation or organization, such as drawing up a plan or formations in battle.

Derivatives and related terms: from instruere derive the noun and adjectives in later Latin such as instructio (instruction, teaching, arrangement) and instructus (instructed, well-trained). In English, the root yields instruction, instructor, and instructive. The verb forms part of many classical phrases and appears in authors ranging from Cicero to Caesar to discuss preparation, training, and provisioning.