INSTITUTIONS
Noun
institutions
plural of institution
Source: Wiktionary
INSTITUTION
In`sti*tu"tion, n. Etym: [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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition