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Instance vs State - What's the difference?

instance | state |

In obsolete terms the difference between instance and state

is that instance is a piece of evidence; a proof or sign (of something) while state is stately.

In computing terms the difference between instance and state

is that instance is in object-oriented programming: a created object, one that has had memory allocated for local data storage; an instantiation of a class while state is the values of all parameters at some point in a computation.

In transitive terms the difference between instance and state

is that instance is to mention as a case or example; to refer to; to cite; as, to instance a fact while state is to make known.

As an adjective state is

stately.

As a proper noun State is

state University, as the shortened form of any public university name.

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

    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

    * ----

    state

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia state) (en noun)
  • A polity.
  • # Any sovereign polity; a government.
  • #* 20C , (Albert Einstein), as quoted by Virgil Henshaw in Albert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist (1949)
  • Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.
  • #* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Fantasy of navigation , passage=It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […];  […]; or perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment.}}
  • # A political division of a federation retaining a degree of autonomy, for example one of the fifty United States. See also Province.
  • # (obsolete) A form of government other than a monarchy.
  • #* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • Well monarchies may own religion's name, / But states are atheists in their very fame.
  • # (anthropology) A society larger than a tribe. A society large enough to form a state in the sense of a government.
  • A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • Declare the past and present state of things.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.}}
  • # (computing) The stable condition of a processor during a particular clock cycle.
  • # (computing) The set of all parameters relevant to a computation.
  • # (computing) The values of all parameters at some point in a computation.
  • # (sciences) The physical property of matter as solid, liquid, gas or plasma.
  • # (obsolete) Highest and stationary condition, as that of maturity between growth and decline, or as that of crisis between the increase and the abating of a disease; height; acme.
  • High social standing or circumstance.
  • # Pomp, ceremony, or dignity.
  • # Rank; condition; quality.
  • #* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Thy honour, state , and seat is due to me.
  • # Condition of prosperity or grandeur; wealthy or prosperous circumstances; social importance.
  • #* (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • She instructed him how he should keep state , and yet with a modest sense of his misfortunes.
  • #* (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • Can this imperious lord forget to reign, / Quit all his state , descend, and serve again?
  • # A chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself.
  • #* (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • His high throne,under state / Of richest texture spread.
  • #* (Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)
  • When he went to court, he used to kick away the state , and sit down by his prince cheek by jowl.
  • # (obsolete) A great person, a dignitary; a lord or prince.
  • #* 1644 , (John Milton), (Aeropagitica) :
  • They who to States and Governours of the Commonwealth direct their Speech.
  • # (obsolete) Estate, possession.
  • (Daniel)
  • #* (Philip Massinger) (1583-1640)
  • Your state , my lord, again is yours.
  • (mathematics, stochastic processes) An element of the range of the random variables that define a random process.
  • Derived terms

    * absolute state * blue state * bound state * buffer state * cat state * change of state * chief of state * city state * civilization-state * client state * cluster state * continental state * convention state * deep state * end state * excited state * failed state * federal state * feudatory state * flyover state * fogue state * free state * graph state * green state * ground state * hole state * in a state * iron state * island state * head of state * landlocked state * link state * member state * nanny state * narco state * nation-state * night watchman state * party state * police state * poppet state * princely state * pro-state * pseudostate * purple state * quantum state * red state * rogue state * rump state * save state * solid state * statehood * state flower * state of affairs * state of emergency * state of matter * state of mind * state of the arts * state capital * state house * state machine * state ownership * state pattern * state school * state secret * state space * state variable * stateside * statesman * statesmanship * steady state * swing state * transition state * wait state * unitary state * upstate * welfare state (state)

    See also

    * department * province

    Verb

  • (lb) To declare to be a fact.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.
  • To make known.
  • :
  • Usage notes

    State'' is stronger or more definitive than ''say . It is used to communicate an absence of reasonable doubt and to emphasize the factual or truthful nature of the communication.

    Synonyms

    * See

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) stately
  • (Spenser)

    Statistics

    *