Standard Lemma guide

instantiate

verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK, US: /ɪnˈstænʃieɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N S T AE1 N SH IY0 EY2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To represent (a concept, theme, or principle) by an instance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • To see and test the result of one's CSS for any particular HTML element, one must instantiate that element in a document.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To create an object (an instance) of a specific class.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Qualifier: object-oriented programming

Examples

  • To instantiate a class, we call its constructor.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

find an instance of (a word or particular usage of a word)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The linguists could not instantiate this sense of the noun that he claimed existed in a certain dialect

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: detect, observe, find, discover, notice

4

verb

Meaning 4

represent by an instance

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • This word instantiates the usage that the linguists claimed to be typical for a certain dialect

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: represent

History

Etymology

From Latin instāntia + -ate (verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, instance + -ate.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: ilmentää — to represent by a concrete instance
  • Finnish: toteuttaa — to represent by a concrete instance
  • French: instancier — to represent by a concrete instance
  • German: instanziieren — to represent by a concrete instance
  • Spanish: instanciar — to represent by a concrete instance
  • Swedish: exemplifiera — to represent by a concrete instance
  • Ukrainian: ілюструвати прикладом (iljustruvaty prykladom) — to represent by a concrete instance
  • Finnish: luoda ilmentymä — to create an object of a specific class
  • Finnish: instantioida — to create an object of a specific class
  • French: instancier — to create an object of a specific class
  • Greek: προτυποποιώ (protypopoió) — to create an object of a specific class
  • Hebrew: יצר מופע (yatsár mofá) — to create an object of a specific class
  • Portuguese: instanciar — to create an object of a specific class
  • Russian: инстанцировать (instancirovatʹ) — to create an object of a specific class