Ĭn’/sti-tū’/tion, n.

n. [Lat. institutio, Fr. institution, Pr. institutio, Sp. institucion, It. instituzione. See supra.]

1Sense 1. The act of instituting; as, (a.) Establishment; foundation; enactment. “The institution of God’s laws . . . by solemn injunction.” Hooker. (b.) Instruction; education. “His learning was not the effect of precept or institution.” 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.

2Sense 2. That which is instituted or established; as, (a.) Established order, or method, or custom; enactment; ordinance; permanent form of law or polity. “The nature of our people, our city’s institutions.” Shak. (b.) An established or organized society; an establishment, especially of a public character, or affecting a community; a foundation; as, a literary institution; a charitable institution; a commercial institution.

3Sense 3. That which institutes or instructs; a treatise or text-book; a system of elements or rules.

There is another manuscript, of above three hundred years old, . . . being an institution of physic. Evelyn.