Instance
Instance , noun
[French instance, Latin instantia, from instans. See Instant.]
1.
The act or quality of being instant or pressing; urgency; solicitation; application; suggestion; motion.
Undertook at her instance to restore them.
2.
That which is instant or urgent; motive. [Obsolete]
The instances that second marriage move
Are base respects of thrift, but none of love.
3.
Occasion; order of occurrence.
These seem as if, in the time of Edward I., they were drawn up into the form of a law, in the first instance.
4.
That which offers itself or is offered as an illustrative case; something cited in proof or exemplification; a case occurring; an example; as, we could find no instance of poisoning in the town within the past year.
Most remarkable instances of suffering.
5.
A token; a sign; a symptom or indication. — Shakespeare
Collocations (4)
Causes of instance , those which proceed at the solicitation of some party. — Hallifax
Court of first instance , the court by which a case is first tried.
For instance , by way of example or illustration; for example.
Instance Court (Law) , the Court of Admiralty acting within its ordinary jurisdiction, as distinguished from its action as a prize court.
Instance , transitive verb
To mention as a case or example; to refer to; to cite; as, to instance a fact. — H. Spenser
I shall not instance an abstruse author.
Instance , intransitive verb
To give an example. [Obsolete]
This story doth not only instance in kingdoms, but in families too.