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Webster 1913 Edition

Institution

Inˊsti-tu′tion

,
Noun.
[L.
institutio
: cf. F.
institution
.]
1.
The act or process of instituting; as:
(a)
Establishment; foundation; enactment;
as, the
institution
of a school
.
(b)
Instruction; education.
[Obs.]
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.
2.
That which instituted or established
; as:
(a)
Established order, method, or custom; enactment; ordinance; permanent form of law or polity.
(b)
An established or organized society or corporation; an establishment, especially of a public character, or affecting a community; a foundation;
as, a literary
institution
; a charitable
institution
; also, a building or the buildings occupied or used by such organization;
as, the Smithsonian
Institution
.
(c)
Anything forming a characteristic and persistent feature in social or national life or habits.
We ordered a lunch (the most delightful of English
institutions
, next to dinner) to be ready against our return.
Hawthorne.
3.
That which institutes or instructs; a textbook; a system of elements or rules; an institute.
[Obs.]
There is another manuscript, of above three hundred years old, . . . being an
institution
of physic.
Evelyn.

Webster 1828 Edition

Institution

INSTITU'TION

,
Noun.
[L. institutio.]
1.
The act of establishing.
2.
Establishment; that which is appointed, prescribed or founded by authority,and intended to be permanent. Thus we speak of the institutions of Moses or Lycurgus. We apply the word institution to laws, rites, and ceremonies, which are enjoined by authority as permanent rules of conduct or of government.
3.
A system, plan or society established, either by law or by the authority of individuals for promoting any object, public or social. We call a college or an academy, a literary institution; a bible society, a benevolent or charitable institution; a banking company and an insurance company are commercial institutions.
4.
A system of the elements or rules of any art or science.
5.
Education; instruction.
His learning was not the effect of precept or institution.
6.
The act or ceremony of investing a clerk with the spiritual part of a benefice, by which the care of souls is committed to his charge.

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