Instrumentalizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Treats people or things merely as tools for achieving a goal ; turns something into a device or means used to accomplish a particular aim
2. Regards someone purely as a means to an end without concern for their worth ; makes a thing serve as an instrument for a specific purpose
3. Exploits a person or object as a convenient tool for reaching an objective ; shapes something into an implement used to produce a result

Etymology: The verb "instrumentalizes" is the third-person singular form of a word built from "instrumental" and the suffix "-ize", and the suffix carries most of its history. "-ize" traces back through Ancient Greek "-ízein", a verb-forming ending that let speakers turn a noun or adjective into an action, as in "to make something into a certain thing." It passed into Late Latin as "-izare", then through Old French "-iser" and Middle English "-isen" before settling into the modern English form. "Instrumental" comes from the Latin "instrumentum", meaning a tool or implement, and in English it first described things that serve as means to an end. Put the two together and "instrumentalize" means to treat a person or thing as a mere tool, which is the sense that remains in "instrumentalizes": someone who uses others selfishly for their own purposes.

Synonyms: utilize, exploit, use