instrumentive

Instrumentive is a relatively rare English adjective that describes something that serves as an instrument or is produced by means of an instrument. It is formed from instrument plus the suffix -ive, and its meaning overlaps with instrumental, which is far more common in contemporary usage. In most contexts, instrumentive is considered archaic, poetic, or regionally restricted; when clarity is needed, instrumental is preferred.

Musical usage: When referring to music performed by instruments rather than voices, the standard term is instrumental. The adjective instrumental covers the same sense; instrumentive appears occasionally in older or stylistic writing and is rarely used in modern music criticism or description.

Grammatical usage: In historical or cross-linguistic grammars, an instrumentive or instrumentive case may be used to denote means or instrumentality. However, in modern English grammar, instrumental is the established term for the case or semantic role expressing means, and instrumentive is not widely used.

Other senses: The word can function as an adjective meaning “serving as an instrument” or “acting by means of,” but such usage is uncommon in contemporary prose. Writers typically prefer instrumental to convey this sense, and instrumentive is usually avoided unless a stylistic or historical nuance is intended.

See also: Instrumental; Instrumental case; Instrumental music; Musical terminology.