Instar, in nominatiuo, Iustinus. In quo instar omnium auxiliorÛ erat. Which was equiualent, or could doe as much as al other aiders or helpers.Si proponatur instar quoddã & quasi facies quædam operis facta. Vlp. If there be set before him the plat or fashion, & as it were the image or likenes of the worke.Instar admittit apud doctos nonnunquam præpositionem ad, & significat ad similitudinem. Iustinus. Gel. Ad instar exercitus. Like an armie. Apul.
Lewis and Short: Latin dictionary
instar, n. indecl. [perh. in and root sta-; cf. Gr. i(/sthmi, sth/lh, etc.]. I.A sketch, image, resemblance, likeness, kind, manner: parvum instar eorum, quae, etc., Liv. 28, 17, 2.—B. Ad instar, or simply instar. 1.According to the likeness of, after the fashion of, like.(a). Ad instar, with gen. (post-class.): vallis continuis montibus ad instar castrorum clauditur, Just. 36, 3: ad instar proprietatis, non ad instar possessionis, Dig. 6, 2, 7. — (b). Instar, with gen. (class.): Erana, quae fuit non vici instar, sed urbis, Cic. Fam. 15, 4, 8: instar muri, Caes. B. G. 2, 17: instar montis equus, Verg. A. 2, 15: nomina ea partium urbis et instal urbium sunt, Liv. 25, 25, 5 Weissenb.—2. Instar, with gen., about: cohortes quaedam, quod instar legionis videretur, Caes. B. C. 3, 66; cf.: videretis vix duarum male plenarum legiuncularum instar in castris regis, Liv. 35, 49, 10: milites dati duarum instar legionum, id. 26, 28, 11: habet Tiro instar septuaginta (mearum epistularum), Cic. Att. 16, 5, 5: librorum octo, Varr. R. R. 1, 1, 10. — II.A form, figure, appearance: quantum instar in ipso!Verg. A. 6, 865: terra ad universi caeli complexum quasi puncti instar obtinet,
has almost the appearance of
,
looks almost like a point
, Cic. Tusc. 1, 17, 40.— III.Worth, value: omnia vix minimi momenti instar habent, Cic. Off. 3, 3, 11: unus ille dies mihi immortalitatis instar fuit,
was worth immortality to me
, id. Pis. 22, 52: unus is innumeri militis instar habet,
is as good as
,
equivalent to
, Ov. H. 16, 368: Plato mihi unus instar est omnium,
is to me worth them all
, Cic. Brut. 51, 191: clientes appellari, mortis instar putant,