Instilments

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Parts of a sum paid or received in successive portions rather than in a single payment ; segments of a story or information presented gradually, piece by piece ; individual doses or applications introduced slowly over time to achieve an effect
2. Portions into which a payment is divided for completion over time ; discrete sections of a serialized narrative or broadcast released sequentially ; measured quantities gradually introduced, often in a medical or instructional context
3. Scheduled divisions of monetary obligation paid stepwise ; separate episodes or sections of a continuous account delivered bit by bit ; slow, careful introduction of something in controlled amounts or intervals

Etymology: "Instilments" is the plural of "instilment," a variant spelling of "installment." The "instil" spelling is the older English form, and the word is built from "instil" plus the suffix "-ment," which turns a verb into a noun for an act, result, or thing. The verb "instil" itself comes from the Latin "instillare," "to pour in drop by drop," a picture that explains why the word now carries the idea of something delivered in small, gradual pieces. The spelling "instilment" is mainly an older and less common form of "installment," and the two have long been used interchangeably. Installments in the financial sense of a partial payment, and in the sense of a section of a serial story, descend from the same root idea of a portion delivered in stages.