institute

IN'STITUTE, verb transitive [Latin instituo; in and statuo, to set.] 1. To establish; to appoint; to enact; to form and prescribe; as, to institute laws; to institute rules and regulations. 2. To found; to originate and establish, as to institute a new order of nobility; to institute a court. 3. To ground or establish in principles; to educate; to instruct; as, to institute children in the principles of a science. 4. To begin; to commence; to set in operation; as, to institute an inquiry; to institute a suit. 5. To invest with the spiritual part of a benefice or the care of souls. IN'STITUTE, noun [Latin institutum.] 1. Established law; settled order. 2. Precept; maxim; principle. To make the Stoic institutes thy own. 3. A book of elements or principles; particularly, a work containing the principles of the Roman law.