p.a. established; organized; founded.
2. institute ·adj the act of instituting; institution.
3. institute ·vt to nominate; to appoint.
4. institute ·noun the person to whom an estate is first given by destination or limitation.
5. institute ·vt to invest with the spiritual charge of a benefice, or the care of souls.
6. institute ·adj that which is instituted, established, or fixed, as a law, habit, or custom.
7. institute ·vt to set up; to establish; to ordain; as, to institute laws, rules, ·etc.
8. institute ·vt to ground or establish in principles and rudiments; to educate; to instruct.
9. institute ·vt to begin; to commence; to set on foot; as, to institute an inquiry; to institute a suit.
10. institute ·vt to originate and establish; to found; to organize; as, to institute a court, or a society.
11. institute ·noun 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.
12. institute ·adj 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, ·noun.