Translation
likeness, image; the equivalent of, as large as
Examples
.
The horse was the size of a mountain.
habebatur.
The city was reckoned the equivalent of a province.
.
He lives after the manner of his father.
.
A good book is as good as a teacher.
.
One man was worth an army.
Instar is an indeclinable neuter noun with no plural, and it only ever appears as nominative or accusative. It governs a genitive, and that genitive is the whole point: instar montis, "the size of a mountain", instar exercitus, "worth an army".
Translate it by whatever the comparison is doing - "as big as", "as good as", "the equivalent of", "on the model of" - rather than reaching for "likeness", which reads as a noun and turns the sentence stiff. Medieval and legal Latin add the preposition and use ad instar with a genitive for "in the manner of", which is how the phrase survives in ecclesiastical formulae. There is no verb and no adjective built on it; the word is a dead end with one very useful job.
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instar: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "instar" (likeness, image; the equivalent of, as large as): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 18.