The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Instance \In"stance\, n. [F. instance, L. instantia, fr.
   instans. See Instant.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. The act or quality of being instant or pressing; urgency;
      solicitation; application; suggestion; motion.
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            Undertook at her instance to restore them. --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
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   2. That which is instant or urgent; motive. [Obs.]
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            The instances that second marriage move
            Are base respects of thrift, but none of love.
                                                  --Shak.
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   3. Occasion; order of occurrence.
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            These seem as if, in the time of Edward I., they
            were drawn up into the form of a law, in the first
            instance.                             --Sir M. Hale.
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   4. That which offers itself or is offered as an illustrative
      case; something cited in proof or exemplification; a case
      occurring; an example; as, we could find no instance of
      poisoning in the town within the past year.
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            Most remarkable instances of suffering. --Atterbury.
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   5. A token; a sign; a symptom or indication. --Shak.
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   Causes of instance, those which proceed at the solicitation
      of some party. --Hallifax.

   Court of first instance, the court by which a case is first
      tried.

   For instance, by way of example or illustration; for
      example.

   Instance Court (Law), the Court of Admiralty acting within
      its ordinary jurisdiction, as distinguished from its
      action as a prize court.

   Syn: Example; case. See Example.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Instance \In"stance\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Instanced; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Instancing.]
   To mention as a case or example; to refer to; to cite; as, to
   instance a fact. --H. Spenser.
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         I shall not instance an abstruse author. --Milton.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Instance \In"stance\, v. i.
   To give an example. [Obs.]
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         This story doth not only instance in kingdoms, but in
         families too.                            --Jer. Taylor.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

instance
    n 1: an occurrence of something; "it was a case of bad
         judgment"; "another instance occurred yesterday"; "but
         there is always the famous example of the Smiths" [syn:
         case, instance, example]
    2: an item of information that is typical of a class or group;
       "this patient provides a typical example of the syndrome";
       "there is an example on page 10" [syn: example,
       illustration, instance, representative]
    v 1: clarify by giving an example of [syn: exemplify,
         illustrate, instance]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):

instance

    An individual object of a certain class.
   While a class is just the type definition, an actual usage of
   a class is called "instance".  Each instance of a class can
   have different values for its instance variables, i.e. its
   state.

   (1998-03-06)