\In`sti*tu"tion\, n. [L. institutio: cf. F.
institution.]
1. The act or process of instituting; as:
   (a) Establishment; foundation; enactment; as, the
       institution of a school.
             The institution of God's law is described as
             being established by solemn injunction.
                                               --Hooker.
   (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.
             The nature of our people, Our city's
             institutions.                     --Shak.
   (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.