- Institution
- Institution In`sti*tu"tion, n. [L. institutio: cf. F.
institution.]
[1913 Webster]
1. The act or process of instituting; as:
(a) Establishment; foundation; enactment; as, the
institution of a school.
[1913 Webster]
The institution of God's law is described as being established by solemn injunction. --Hooker. (b) Instruction; education. [Obs.] --Bentley. (c) (Eccl. Law) The act or ceremony of investing a clergyman with the spiritual part of a benefice, by which the care of souls is committed to his charge. --Blackstone. [1913 Webster]
2. That which instituted or established; as: (a) Established order, method, or custom; enactment; ordinance; permanent form of law or polity. [1913 Webster]
The nature of our people, Our city's institutions. --Shak. (b) An established or organized society or corporation; an establishment, especially of a public character, or affecting a community; a foundation; as, a literary institution; a charitable institution; also, a building or the buildings occupied or used by such organization; as, the Smithsonian Institution. (c) Anything forming a characteristic and persistent feature in social or national life or habits. [1913 Webster]
We ordered a lunch (the most delightful of English institutions, next to dinner) to be ready against our return. --Hawthorne. [1913 Webster]
3. That which institutes or instructs; a textbook; a system of elements or rules; an institute. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
There is another manuscript, of above three hundred years old, . . . being an institution of physic. --Evelyn. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.