stru-, struct-, -structure, -struction, -structive

(Latin: to build, to build up; to pile; to construct; to place together, to arrange)

instruction (s) (noun), instructions (pl)
1. A statement or explanation of something that must be done, often given by someone in authority: "The instruction of the recruits was the responsibility of the first sergeant.".
2. A spoken or written statement of what must be done; especially, delivered formally, with official authority, or as an order.
3. Printed information explaining how to use or do something.
4. A line of code written as part of a computer program.
5. The activities of educating or instructing or teaching, or the profession of teaching; including activities that impart knowledge or skills: "The instructions for studying the concepts of chemistry were very clear."
instructional (adjective), more instructional, most instructional
1. Something that is intended or used for teaching people about something.
2. Referring to the process of transmitting and acquiring knowledge, skills, and work habits.

The instructional procedures for preparing an individual for life and work.

instructive (adjective), more instructive, most instructive
1. Conveying knowledge or information; enlightening.
2. Providing useful information or insight into something.
3. Serving to inform or to educate and to be informative and enlightening; that is, making understandable or clarifying.
instructively (noun), more instructively, most instructively
A reference to conveying knowledge or information.
instructiveness (s) (noun) (no plural form)
1. Providing knowledge or information.
2. Serving to direct or to enlighten others with educational courses.
instructor (s) (noun), instructors (pl)
1. Someone whose job is to teach students at a school or to help with teaching at a university; a teacher.
2. Anyone who teaches or instructs students; especially, a teacher at a college or a university.
3. A coach, a guide, an adviser, a trainer, a demonstrator, a tutor, a mentor, an educator, etc.
instrument (s) (noun), instruments (pl)
1. A tool, mechanical device, or piece of equipment used for precision work in science, medicine, or technology: "All surgical instruments must be sterilized."
2. A piece of equipment that measures or controls something; such as, position, speed (speedometer), or temperature.
3. An object used to produce music; for a performance or for private reasons; for example, a flute, a guitar, a piano, a drum, etc.
4. Someone or something used as a means of achieving a desired result or of accomplishing a particular purpose: "Some educators consider standardized testing as an instrument for improving the educational results in the schools."
5. An object that has been or could be used for a purpose: "On the street last night, he was struck from behind with a blunt instrument."
6. Etymology: from the late 13th century, "musical instrument", from Old French instrument, from Latin instrumentem, "a tool, an apparatus, furniture, a dress" or "a document"; from instruere, "to arrange, to furnish".
instrumental (adjective), more instrumental, most instrumental
1. Involved in an important way in making something happen or playing an important part in achieving a result or being helpful in accomplishing some purpose: "The newspaper was instrumental in bringing the problem to the public's attention."
2. Music that is played by instruments only instead of being sung or a composition for one or more instruments; usually, without vocal accompaniment: "They played instrumental music at the wedding."
instrumentalism (s) (noun), instrumentalisms (pl)
1. A pragmatic theory that ideas are instruments that function as guides of action, their validity being determined by the success of the action.
2. A doctrine in which ideas are instruments of action and that their usefulness determines their truth.
3. The belief that theories are useful tools for making predictions; however, they cannot be literally true or false.
4. The view that concepts are merely useful instruments, properly evaluated not as true or false, but as effective or ineffective.

A philosophy advanced by John Dewey stating that what is most important in a thing or idea is its value as a tool of action and that the truth of an idea exists in its usefulness.

Dewey favored instrumentalism over pragmatism to label the philosophy on which his views of education were based; that is, indicating that ideas are conceived as instruments for transforming the uneasiness arising from facing a problem into the satisfaction of solving it.

instrumentalist (s), instrumentalists (pl)
1. Someone who plays a musical instrument; especially, as a vocation or a career.
2. A supporter or advocate of instrumentalism which is the pragmatic doctrine that ideas are plans for action serving as instruments for adjustment to the environment and that their validity is determined by their effectiveness.
instrumentality (s) (noun), instrumentalities (pl)
1. A subsidiary branch, as of a government which is created for a special purpose; such as, fulfilling certain policies.
2. The fact or function of serving some purpose: "The President wanted to know if the judicial instrumentalities of these federal agencies were adequate."
3. Something that serves as an intermediary or agent through which one or more functions of a larger controlling entity are carried out.
instrumentally (adjective), more instrumentally, most instrumentally
1. A reference to a piece of music which is composed for musical instruments rather than for voices.
2. Descriptive of something serving as a means of pursuing an aim: "The organization was instrumentally responsible for bringing the proposal to the legislation."
3. Relating to the function of something as a means to an end: "It has been instrumentally advantageous to view our educational system to see how it relates to the needs of our students."
interdestructive (noun), more interdestructive, most interdestructive
1. Causing mutual or internal ruin or harm.
2. Reciprocally or interchangeably fatal, deadly, lethal, or harmful.
interdestructively (adverb), more interdestructively, most interdestructively
1. A reference to a mutual or internal ruin or harm.
2. Descriptive of an interchangeable fatality or harmful result.
interdestructiveness (s) (noun) (no plural)
Mutual harmfulness.

Related "together" units: com-; greg-; inter-.