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Instance vs Context - What's the difference?

instance | context |

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between instance and context

is that instance is (obsolete) a piece of evidence; a proof or sign (of something) while context is (obsolete) knit or woven together; close; firm.

As nouns the difference between instance and context

is that instance is (obsolete) urgency of manner or words; an urgent request; insistence while context is the surroundings, circumstances, environment, background or settings that determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event or other occurrence.

As verbs the difference between instance and context

is that instance is to mention as a case or example; to refer to; to cite; as, to instance a fact while context is (obsolete) to knit or bind together; to unite closely.

As an adjective context is

(obsolete) knit or woven together; close; firm.

instance

English

Alternative forms

* enstance, enstaunce, instaunce (all obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) Urgency of manner or words; an urgent request; insistence.
  • *, II.8:
    • I know one very well alied, to whom, at the instance of a brother of his.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • undertook at her instance to restore them.
  • (obsolete) A token; a sign; a symptom or indication.
    • It sends some precious instance of itself/ After the thing it loves. Hamlet IV. v. ca. 1602
  • (obsolete) That which is urgent; motive.
  • * Shakespeare
    • The instances that second marriage move / Are base respects of thrift, but none of love.
  • Occasion; order of occurrence.
  • * Sir M. Hale
    • These seem as if, in the time of Edward I., they were drawn up into the form of a law, in the first instance .
  • A case offered as an exemplification or a precedent; an illustrative example.
  • * Atterbury
    • most remarkable instances of suffering
  • *:
    • sometimes we love those that are absent, saith Philostratus, and gives instance in his friend Athenodorus, that loved a maid at Corinth whom he never saw
  • One of a series of recurring occasions, cases, essentially the same.
  • *
  • *
  • * 2010 , The Guardian , 11 Oct 2010:
    • The organisations claim fraudsters are targeting properties belonging to both individuals and companies, in some instances using forged documents.
  • (obsolete) A piece of evidence; a proof or sign (of something).
  • * c. 1594 , William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors :
    • The reason that I gather he is mad, Besides this present instance of his rage, Is a mad tale he told to day at dinner [...].
  • (computing) In object-oriented programming: a created object, one that has had memory allocated for local data storage; an instantiation of a class.
  • (massively multiplayer online games) A dungeon or other area that is duplicated for each player, or each party of players, that enters it, so that each player or party has a private copy of the area, isolated from other players.
  • * 2006 September 1, "Dan" (username), " Re: DPS Classes: Why should I heal you?", in alt.games.warcraft, Usenet:
    • As long as the most difficult instance you've tried is Gnomeregan, you're never going to be credible talking about 'difficult encounters'.
  • * 2010 , , Online Multiplayer Games , Morgan & Claypool, ISBN 9781608451425, page 26:
    • For example, when a team of five players enters the Sunken Temple instance in World of Warcraft , they will battle many monsters, but they will not encounter other players even though several teams of players may be experiencing the Sunken Temple at the same time.
  • * 2012 , anonymous gamer quoted in Andrew Ee & Hichang Cho, " What Makes an MMORPG Leader? A Social Cognitive Theory-Based Approach to Understanding the Formation of Leadership Capabilities in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games", Eludamos , volume 6, page 31:
    • Beating a difficult instance becomes second nature after running through it…a few times, with good leaders knowing exactly what to do and how to co-ordinate member actions.
  • (massively multiplayer online games) An individual copy of such a dungeon or other area.
  • * 2005 January 11, Patrick B., " Re: Instance dungeons", in alt.games.warcraft, Usenet:
    • The instance is created for the group that enters it.
  • * 2005 December 6, "Rene" (username), " Re: Does group leader affect drops?", in alt.games.warcraft, Usenet:
    • As soon as the first player enters (spawns) a new instance , it appears that the loottable is somehow chosen.
  • * 2010 , Anthony Steed & Manuel Fradinho Oliveira, Networked Graphics: Building Networked Games and Virtual Environments , Elsevier, ISBN 978-0-12-374423-4, page 398:
    • A castle on the eastern edge of the island spawns a new instance whenever a party of players enters.

    Derived terms

    * at the instance of * in the first instance * in this instance * for instance

    Related terms

    * instancy * instant * instantaneous * instantial * instantiate * instantly

    See also

    * (computing) closure, class, object

    Verb

    (instanc)
  • To mention as a case or example; to refer to; to cite; as, to instance a fact.
  • * 1946 , E. M. Butler, Rainer Maria Rilke , p. 404
    • The poems which I have instanced are concrete and relatively glaring examples of the intangible difference which the change of language made in Rilke's visions .
  • To cite an example as proof; to exemplify.

    • References

    * *

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    context

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The surroundings, circumstances, environment, background or settings that determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event or other occurrence.
    • In what context did your attack on him happen? - We had a pretty tense relationship at the time, and when he insulted me I snapped.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=September 7 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Moldova 0-5 England , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The display and result must be placed in the context that was it was against a side that looked every bit their Fifa world ranking of 141 - but England completed the job with efficiency to record their biggest away win in 19 years.}}
  • (senseid) (linguistics) The text in which a word or passage appears and which helps ascertain its meaning.
  • (archaeology) The surroundings and environment in which an artifact is found and which may provide important clues about the artifact's function and/or cultural meaning.
  • (mycology) The trama or flesh of a mushroom.

    • Antonyms

    *

    Derived terms

    () * context-dependent * context-free * context-sensitive * in context, compare in isolation * keyword in context, KWIC * keyword out of context, KWOC * out of context * take out of context

    Quotations

    * (English Citations of "context")

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To knit or bind together; to unite closely.
    • (Feltham)
  • * R. Junius
    • The whole world's frame, which is contexted only by commerce and contracts.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Knit or woven together; close; firm.
  • * Derham
    • The coats, without, are context and callous.
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