instantialadj.
Of or pertaining to an instance or instances; furnishing an instance. Spec. instantial premiss (see quot. 1933).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > [adjective]
instantial1647
instantiative1946
1647 M. Hudson Divine Right Govt. ii. vi. 110 The Arguments..are partly Instantial, partly Rational. The Instances of Scripture are of two sorts.
1851 T. Parker Wks. (Eng. ed.) VII. 260 A mighty multitude, an instantial, poor, ill-born..and ill-minded too.
a1860 T. Parker Serm. in Cent. Dict. Instantial cases of this great law of attraction.
1921 W. E. Johnson Logic I. x. 160 This entirely distinct and peculiar use of the term ‘existential’ has given rise to endless confusion; and..the term should be entirely discarded and replaced by some such term as instantial, or, more accurately, indeterminately instantial.
1922 W. E. Johnson Logic II. x. 210 The conclusion is a generalisation of a certain premiss or set of premisses which..may be spoken of as ‘the instantial premiss’.
1933 C. A. Mace Princ. Logic xii. 243 Induction may be defined as a form of inference in which, given instantial premisses (i.e. premisses concerning ‘instances’ or particular cases), we draw a conclusion involving some measure of generalization of these premisses.
1961 E. Nagel Struct. of Sci. iii. 31 The above premises..contain a number of singular or instantial statements.
1966 J. Ellis in C. E. Bazell In Memory of J. R. Firth 81 Contextual meaning is either potential or instantial (or, less unambiguously, ‘potential’ or ‘actual’).
Derivatives
instantiˈality n. the state of being instantial.
ΚΠ
1966 J. Ellis in C. E. Bazell In Memory of J. R. Firth 81 Between these extremes we might recognize a cline of potentiality/instantiality.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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adj.1647