Institute — Defs

01 p. a. Established; organized; founded.

1.
Established; organized; founded.[Obs.]
“They have but few laws. For to a people so instruct and institute, very few to suffice.” — Robynson (More's Utopia).

02 v. t. To set up; to establish; to ordain; as, to institute laws, rules, etc.

imp. & p. p. Instituted; p. pr. & vb. n. Instituting

1.
To set up; to establish; to ordain; as, to institute laws, rules, etc.
2.
To originate and establish; to found; to organize; as, to institute a court, or a society.
“Whenever any from of government becomes destructive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government.” — Jefferson (Decl. of Indep. ).
3.
To nominate; to appoint.[Obs.]
“We institute your Grace To be our regent in these parts of France.” — Shak.
4.
To begin; to commence; to set on foot; as, to institute an inquiry; to institute a suit.
“And haply institute A course of learning and ingenious studies.” — Shak.
5.
To ground or establish in principles and rudiments; to educate; to instruct.[Obs.]
“If children were early instituted, knowledge would insensibly insinuate itself.” — Dr. H. More.
6.
To invest with the spiritual charge of a benefice, or the care of souls.(Eccl. Law)

Syn. To originate; begin; commence; establish; found; erect; organize; appoint; ordain.

03 n. The act of instituting; institution.

1.
The act of instituting; institution.[Obs.]
2.
That which is instituted, established, or fixed, as a law, habit, or custom.
3.
Hence: An elementary and necessary principle; a precept, maxim, or rule, recognized as established and authoritative; usually in the plural, a collection of such principles and precepts; esp., a comprehensive summary of legal principles and decisions; as, the Institutes of Justinian; Coke's Institutes of the Laws of England. Cf. Digest, n. See: Digest
“They made a sort of institute and digest of anarchy.” — Burke.

“To make the Stoics' institutes thy own.” — Dryden.
4.
An institution; a society established for the promotion of learning, art, science, etc.; a college; as, the Institute of Technology; The Massachusetts Institute of Technology; also, a building owned or occupied by such an institute; as, the Cooper Institute.
5.
The person to whom an estate is first given by destination or limitation.(Scots Law)

Phrases & compounds

Institutes of medicine — theoretical medicine; that department of medical science which attempts to account philosophically for the various phenomena of health as well as of disease; physiology applied to the practice of medicine.