/in"sti tooht', -tyooht'/ , v. , instituted, instituting , n.
v.t.
1. to set up; establish; organize: to institute a government.
2. to inaugurate; initiate; start: to institute a new course in American literature.
3. to set in operation: to institute a lawsuit.
4. to bring into use or practice: to institute laws.
5. to establish in an office or position.
6. Eccles. to assign to or invest with a spiritual charge, as of a parish.
n.
7. a society or organization for carrying on a particular work, as of a literary, scientific, or educational character.
8. the building occupied by such a society.
9. Educ.
a. an institution, generally beyond the secondary school level, devoted to instruction in technical subjects, usually separate but sometimes organized as a part of a university.
b. a unit within a university organized for advanced instruction and research in a relatively narrow field of subject matter.
c. a short instructional program set up for a special group interested in a specialized field or subject.
10. an established principle, law, custom, or organization.
11. institutes ,
a. an elementary textbook of law designed for beginners.
b. ( cap. ) Also called Institutes of Justinian . an elementary treatise on Roman law in four books, forming one of the four divisions of the Corpus Juris Civilis.
12. something instituted.
[ 1275-1325; ME institutus ptp. of instituere to set, put up, establish, equiv. to in- IN- 2 + -stitu- (comb. form of statu-, s. of statuere to make STAND) + -tus ptp. suffix ]