instance

  • noun 1 an example or single occurrence of something. 2 a particular case.

  • verb cite as an example.

  — PHRASES for instance as an example. in the first (or second etc.) instance in the first (or second etc.) place or stage of a proceeding.

  — ORIGIN originally in the sense urgent entreaty, later ‘example to the contrary’: from Latin instantia ‘presence, urgency’, from instare (see INSTANT).

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