In"sti*tute (&ibreve;n"st&ibreve;*tūt), p.
a. [L. institutus, p. p. of instituere to
place in, to institute, to instruct; pref. in- in +
statuere to cause to stand, to set. See Statute.]
Established; organized; founded. [Obs.]
They have but few laws. For to a people so instruct
and institute, very few to suffice.
Robynson
(More's Utopia).
In"sti*tute (&ibreve;n"st&ibreve;*tūt), v.
t. [imp. & p. p. Instituted (-
tū`t&ebreve;d); p. pr. & vb. n.
Instituting.]
1. To set up; to establish; to ordain; as, to
institute laws, rules, etc.
2. To originate and establish; to found; to
organize; as, to institute a court, or a society.
Whenever any from of government becomes destructive of
these ends it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it,
and to institute a new government.
Jefferson
(Decl. of Indep. ).
3. To nominate; to appoint. [Obs.]
We institute your Grace
To be our regent in these parts of France.
Shak.
4. To begin; to commence; to set on foot; as,
to institute an inquiry; to institute a suit.
And haply institute
A course of learning and ingenious studies.
Shak.
5. To ground or establish in principles and
rudiments; to educate; to instruct. [Obs.]
If children were early instituted, knowledge
would insensibly insinuate itself.
Dr. H.
More.
6. (Eccl. Law) To invest with the
spiritual charge of a benefice, or the care of souls.
Blackstone.
Syn. -- To originate; begin; commence; establish; found;
erect; organize; appoint; ordain.
In"sti*tute, n. [L. institutum:
cf. F. institut. See Institute, v. t.
& a.]
1. The act of instituting; institution.
[Obs.] "Water sanctified by Christ's institute."
Milton.
2. That which is instituted, established, or
fixed, as a law, habit, or custom. Glover.
3. 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.
They made a sort of institute and digest of
anarchy.
Burke.
To make the Stoics' institutes thy
own.
Dryden.
4. 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.
5. (Scots Law) The person to whom an
estate is first given by destination or limitation.
Tomlins.
Institutes of medicine, theoretical
medicine; that department of medical science which attempts to
account philosophically for the various phenomena of health as well
as of disease; physiology applied to the practice of medicine.
Dunglison.
