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.