different between relate vs instruct

English

Etymology

From Latin rel?tus, perfect passive participle of refer? (“carry back; report”).

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???le?t/, /?i?le?t/
• Rhymes: -e?t
• Hyphenation: re?late

Verb

relate (third-person singular simple present relates, present participle relating, simple past and past participle related)

1. (transitive) To tell in a descriptive way.

   The captain related an old yarn.

   Please relate the circumstances of your journey here today.

2. (transitive) To bring into a relation, association, or connection (between one thing and another).
   • 2002, Paul Light, Karen Littleton, Learning with Computers: Analysing Productive Interactions (page 92)

     The use of video made it possible to relate the talk to the answers given to particular problems in the test. With this research design it was possible to relate changes in test score measures to changes in linguistic features […]

3. (intransitive) To have a connection.

   The patterns on the screen relate to the pitch and volume of the music being played.

4. (intransitive) To interact.
5. (intransitive) To respond through reaction.
6. (intransitive, with to) To identify with; to understand.

   I find it difficult to relate to others because I'm extremely introverted.

7. (obsolete) To bring back; to restore.

Synonyms

• chronicle
• describe
• divulge
• recount
• state

Derived terms

• aforerelated

Related terms

• relatable
• relater
• relation
• relationship
• relative
• refer
• reference

Translations

Anagrams

• Aertel, Ertale, Tralee, alreet, e-alert, earlet, elater, telera

French

Verb

relate

1. first-person singular present indicative of relater
2. third-person singular present indicative of relater
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of relater
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of relater
5. second-person singular imperative of relater

Anagrams

• alerte, alerté, étaler

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /re?la?.te/, [r????ä?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /re?la.te/, [r??l??t??]

Participle

rel?te

1. vocative masculine singular of rel?tus

Portuguese

Verb

relate

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of relatar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of relatar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of relatar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of relatar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /re?late/, [re?la.t?e]

Verb

relate

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of relatar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of relatar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of relatar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of relatar.

English

Etymology

From Latin ?nstr?ctus, perfect passive participle of ?nstru? (“I instruct; I arrange, furnish, or provide”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??n?st??kt/
• Rhymes: -?kt

Verb

instruct (third-person singular simple present instructs, present participle instructing, simple past and past participle instructed)

1. (transitive) To teach by giving instructions.

   Synonyms: educate, guide

   • c. 1604, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act I, Scene 3,^[1]

     Supply me with the habit and instruct me

     How I may formally in person bear me

     Like a true friar.

   • 1682, Aphra Behn, The False Count, London: Jacob Tonson, Act III, Scene 2, p. 33,^[2]

     What a dishonour’s this, to me, to have so Dull a Father, that needs to be instructed in his Duty.

   • 1751, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 156, 14 September, 1751, in Volume 5, London: J. Payne and J. Bouquet, 1752, p. 177,^[3]

     […] the design of tragedy is to instruct by moving the passions,

   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Chapter 10,^[4]

     […] I should deem you a man sore sick, it may be, yet not so sick but that an instructed and watchful physician might well hope to cure you.

   • 1974, Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, New York: William Morrow, Part 4, Chapter 29, p. 353,^[5]

     At the Laundromat I instruct Chris on how to operate the drier, start the washing machines […]

2. (transitive) To tell (someone) what they must or should do.

   Synonyms: command, direct, order

   Usage note: "instruct" is less forceful than "order", but weightier than "advise"

   • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, Act III, Scene 1,^[6]

     What, shall a child instruct you what to do?

   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 39,^[7]

     All the servants were instructed to address her as “Mum,” or “Madam” […]

   • 1989, John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany, New York: Ballantine, 1997, Chapter 5, p. 195,^[8]

     Observing that the Christ Child’s nose was running, she deftly wiped it; then she held the handkerchief in place, while instructing him to “blow.”

Related terms

Translations

Noun

instruct (plural instructs)

1. (obsolete) Instruction.

Adjective

instruct (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Arranged; furnished; provided.
   • c. 1615, George Chapman (translator), Homer’s Odysses, London: Nathaniell Butter, Book 4, p. 62,^[9]

     For he had neither ship, instruct with oares,

     Nor men to fetch him from those stranger shores.

2. (obsolete) Instructed; taught; enlightened.
   • 1671, John Milton, Paradise Regained, London: John Starkey, Book 1, lines 438-441, p. 24,^[10]

     Who ever by consulting at thy shrine

     Return’d the wiser, or the more instruct

     To flye or follow what concern’d him most,

     And run not sooner to his fatal snare?

Anagrams

• unstrict