institute

n. [ L. institutum: cf. F. institut. See Institute, v. t. & a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of instituting; institution. [ Obs. ] “Water sanctified by Christ's institute.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is instituted, established, or fixed, as a law, habit, or custom. Glover. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

They made a sort of institute and digest of anarchy. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

To make the Stoics' institutes thy own. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An institution; a society established for the promotion of learning, art, science, etc.; a college; as, the Institute of Technology; The Massachusetts Institute of Technology; also, a building owned or occupied by such an institute; as, the Cooper Institute. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Scots Law) The person to whom an estate is first given by destination or limitation. Tomlins. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They have but few laws. For to a people so instruct and institute, very few to suffice. Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]