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This paper examines the conceptual value of nomina instrumenti (NI) type of nouns, as well as their basic semantic and derivational characteristics, with the aim of establishing the distinctive features on the basis of which NI are distinguished from the other nouns denoting instruments. Their derivational structure, as well as the semantic content which is transfered to the derivatives with instrumental meaning, shows the closeness between instrumental and agentive categories. NI display semantic closeness to the human and animal organs whose names are derived from the same suffixes (pipak, bilo, čulo, pružač [a muscle]). These semantic connections are logical since human beings, as well as instruments (in the widest sense), participate in the realization of certain actions, while the body parts have the same function in performing some actions or functions just like tools . In the NI category, there are certain suffixes which create competitive relations. Those relations are created by the suffixes -ač, -ak and -ka (držač : držak: drška); -ač and -lo (pojačavač : pojačalo, pokrivač : pokrivalo, prekrivač : prekrivalo, brojač : brojilo); -lo and-lica (glodalo : glodalica, dizalo : dizalica, glačalo : glačalica); -lo and -iljka (cedilo : cediljka); -lica and -iljka (sadilica : sadiljka, gasilica : gasiljka). Certain suffixes contribute to the semantic disambiguation of the derivatives and the specification of meaning, as well as of the denotates to which the derivative is connected: -lica and -lo in vešalica and vešalo - both derivatives with instrumental meaning;-lica and -lac in žetelica and žetelac - instrumental and agentive meanings. Motive verbs transfer the whole semantic content to the nominal derivatives NI, which is evidenced by periphrastic patterns. They are mostly formed from imperfective verbs, connected with the function of the object from NI category, since they are used in repeating the action, which provides the continuity that is, permanence in time (see -ač). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]