What does "institute" mean?
Institute: To set up; to establish; to ordain; as, to institute laws, rules, etc.
Additional senses
- 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.(Eccl. Law) To invest with the spiritual charge of a benefice, or the care of souls. Blackstone.
- 7.The act of instituting; institution. [Obs.] "Water sanctified by Christ's institute." Milton.
- 8.That which is instituted, established, or fixed, as a law, habit, or custom. Glover.
- 9.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. They made a sort of institute and digest of anarchy. Burke. To make the Stoics' institutes thy own. Dryden.
- 10.An institution; a society established for the promotion of learning, art, science, etc.; a college; as, the Institute of Technology; also, a building owned or occupied by such an institute; as, the Cooper Institute.
- 11.(Scots Law) The person to whom an estate is first given by destination or limitation. Tomlins. 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. Dunglison.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00