Definition of institute
- p. a. - Established; organized; founded.
- v. t. - To set up; to establish; to ordain; as, to institute
laws, rules, etc.
- v. t. - To originate and establish; to found; to organize;
as, to institute a court, or a society.
- v. t. - To nominate; to appoint.
- v. t. - To begin; to commence; to set on foot; as, to
institute an inquiry; to institute a suit.
- v. t. - To ground or establish in principles and rudiments;
to educate; to instruct.
- v. t. - To invest with the spiritual charge of a benefice, or
the care of souls.
- a. - The act of instituting; institution.
- a. - That which is instituted, established, or fixed, as a
law, habit, or custom.
- a. - 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.
- n. - 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.
- n. - The person to whom an estate is first given by
destination or limitation.