\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).

\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.

\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. (Scots Law) 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.