1
- an example or single occurrence of something例子, 事例：
a serious instance of corruption
严重的腐败事例
the search finds every instance where the word appears.
搜索出了这个单词出现的每一个例子。
1.1
- a particular case具体事件：
in this instance it mattered little.
在这一事件中, 这一点无关紧要。
with obj.
- cite (a fact, case, etc.) as an instance or example以（事实, 案例）为例：
I instanced Bob as someone whose commitment had certainly got things done.
我以鲍勃为例, 说明全力以赴就可以成就事情。
短语
at first instance
- Law at the first court hearing concerning a case【律】初审时。参见COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE.
at the instance of
- formal at the request or instigation of〈正式〉应…的要求, 经…的请求; 在…的鼓动下：
prosecution at the instance of the police.
应警方要求进行的起诉。
for instance
- as an example例如：
take Canada, for instance.
以加拿大为例。
in the first （或second等） instance
- in the first (or second etc.) place; at the first (or second etc.) stage of a proceeding首先（或其次等等）; 第一步（或第二步等等）：
the appointment will be for three years in the first instance.
首先, 任期为期三年。
词源
Middle English: via Old French from Latin instantia 'presence, urgency', from instare 'be present, press upon', from in- 'upon' + stare 'to stand'. The original sense was 'urgency, urgent entreaty', surviving in at the instance of. In the late 16th cent. the word denoted a particular case cited to disprove a general assertion, derived from medieval Latin instantia 'example to the contrary' （translating Greek enstasis 'objection'）; hence the meaning 'single occurrence'.