In"sti*tute (?), 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).
© Webster 1913.
In"sti*tute (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Instituted (?); 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.
© Webster 1913.
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. ScotsLaw 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.
© Webster 1913. | 
