instance

The story

1. Latin · derived fromīnstantia“a being near, presence, also perseverance, earnestness, importunity, urgency”
2. Middle French · borrowed frominstance
3. English todayinstance

Borrowed from Middle French instance, from Latin īnstantia (“a being near, presence, also perseverance, earnestness, importunity, urgency”), from īnstāns (“urgent”); see instant.

First known use, by meaning

• 14th–20th c. Urgency of manner or words; an urgent request; insistence.
• 16th–18th c. A piece of evidence; a proof or sign (of something).
• from 16th c. A case offered as an exemplification or a precedent; an illustrative example.
• from 20th c. A specific occurrence of something that is created or instantiated, such as a database, or an object of a class in object-oriented programming.