instrumentality

in·stru·men·tal·i·ty  (nstr-mn-tl-t)

n. pl. in·stru·men·tal·i·ties

1. The state or quality of being instrumental.

2. A means; an agency.

3. A subsidiary branch, as of a government, by means of which functions or policies are carried out.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	instrumentality - a subsidiary organ of government created for a special purpose; "are the judicial instrumentalities of local governments adequate?"; "he studied the French instrumentalities for law enforcement" government department - a department of government social unit, unit - an organization regarded as part of a larger social group; "the coach said the offensive unit did a good job"; "after the battle the soldier had trouble rejoining his unit"
	2.	instrumentality - the quality of being instrumental for some purpose usefulness, utility - the quality of being of practical use
	3.	instrumentality - an artifact (or system of artifacts) that is instrumental in accomplishing some end instrumentation artefact, artifact - a man-made object taken as a whole ceramic - an artifact made of hard brittle material produced from nonmetallic minerals by firing at high temperatures connecter, connector, connective, connection, connexion - an instrumentality that connects; "he soldered the connection"; "he didn't have the right connector between the amplifier and the speakers" container - any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another) transport, conveyance - something that serves as a means of transportation device - an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose; "the device is small enough to wear on your wrist"; "a device intended to conserve water" equipment - an instrumentality needed for an undertaking or to perform a service furnishing - (usually plural) the instrumentalities (furniture and appliances and other movable accessories including curtains and rugs) that make a home (or other area) livable ironware, hardware - instrumentalities (tools or implements) made of metal implement - instrumentation (a piece of equipment or tool) used to effect an end means - an instrumentality for accomplishing some end system - instrumentality that combines interrelated interacting artifacts designed to work as a coherent entity; "he bought a new stereo system"; "the system consists of a motor and a small computer" toilet articles, toiletry - artifacts used in making your toilet (washing and taking care of your body) arms, implements of war, munition, weaponry, weapons system - weapons considered collectively medium - a means or instrumentality for storing or communicating information