n.
Variant: also instalment
Function: noun
Etymology: alteration of earlier estallment payment by installment, from estall to arrange payments by installment, from Anglo-French estaler, from estal station, stall, division of a stage, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German stal place, stall
Date: 1776
1 : one of the parts into which a debt is divided when payment is made at intervals
2 a : one of several parts (as of a publication) presented at intervals b : one part of a serial story
– installment adjective