'Institution' definitions:

Definition of 'institution'

(from WordNet)
noun
An organization founded and united for a specific purpose [syn: institution, establishment]
noun
An establishment consisting of a building or complex of buildings where an organization for the promotion of some cause is situated
noun
A custom that for a long time has been an important feature of some group or society; "the institution of marriage"; "the institution of slavery"; "he had become an institution in the theater"
noun
The act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new; "she looked forward to her initiation as an adult"; "the foundation of a new scientific society" [syn: initiation, founding, foundation, institution, origination, creation, innovation, introduction, instauration]
noun
A hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person [syn: mental hospital, psychiatric hospital, mental institution, institution, mental home, insane asylum, asylum]

Definition of 'Institution'

From: GCIDE
  • Institution \In`sti*tu"tion\, n. [L. institutio: cf. F. institution.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. The act or process of instituting; as: (a) Establishment; foundation; enactment; as, the institution of a school. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. That which instituted or established; as: (a) Established order, method, or custom; enactment; ordinance; permanent form of law or polity. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • We ordered a lunch (the most delightful of English institutions, next to dinner) to be ready against our return. --Hawthorne. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. That which institutes or instructs; a textbook; a system of elements or rules; an institute. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • There is another manuscript, of above three hundred years old, . . . being an institution of physic. --Evelyn. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'institution'

From: Moby Thesaurus