a. [ L. instructus, p. p. of instruere to furnish, provide, construct, instruct; pref. in- in, on + struere. See Structure. ] 1. Arranged; furnished; provided. [ Obs. ] “He had neither ship instruct with oars, nor men.” Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Instructed; taught; enlightened. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Instructed; p. pr. & vb. n. Instructing. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To put in order; to form; to prepare. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They speak to the merits of a cause, after the proctor has prepared and instructed the same for a hearing. Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To form by communication of knowledge; to inform the mind of; to impart knowledge or information to; to enlighten; to teach; to discipline. [ 1913 Webster ]

Schoolmasters will I keep within my house,
Fit to instruct her youth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To furnish with directions; to advise; to direct; to command; as, the judge instructs the jury. [ 1913 Webster ]

She, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger. Matt. xiv. 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

Take her in; instruct her what she has to do. Shak.

Syn. -- To teach; educate; inform; train; discipline; indoctrinate; direct; enjoin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Instructor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being instructed; teachable; docible. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. instructio: cf. F. instruction. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of instructing, teaching, or furnishing with knowledge; information. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which instructs, or with which one is instructed; the intelligence or information imparted; as: (a) Precept; information; teachings. (b) Direction; order; command. “If my instructions may be your guide.” Shak.

3. (Computers) a segment of coded data that is interpreted by a computer as a command to perform an operation or series of operations. The term instruction is applied to both the electronic form of the data as represented in and executed by the computer, and to any line of written computer code which is interpreted as one instruction by a compiler. A computer program is comprised of one or more instructions. Instructions as contained in a program are formulated in a programming language, which may be an assembly language, in which one instruction corresponds to one command executed by the coputer, or in a higher-level programming language, in which one instruction may represent one of many instructions in assembly language. Higher-level programming languages include, for example, FORTRAN, ALGOL, ADA, C, "C++", COBOL, and JAVA; each of these languages have their own distinctive set of allowable instructions.
Syn. -- command, statement, line of code, program line. [ PJC ]

Syn. -- Education; teaching; indoctrination; information; advice; counsel. See Education. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or promoting, instruction; educational. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. instructif. ] Conveying knowledge; serving to instruct or inform; as, experience furnishes very instructive lessons. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

In various talk the instructive hours they past. Pope.

-- In*struct"ive*ly, adv. -- In*struct"ive*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

The pregnant instructiveness of the Scripture. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., a preparer: cf. F. instructeur. ] [ Written also instructer. ] One who instructs; one who imparts knowledge to another; a teacher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the office or position of an instructor. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A woman who instructs; a preceptress; a governess. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]