1. The act or process of instituting; as: Establishment; foundation; enactment; as, the institution of a school. The institution of gods law is described as being established by solemn injunction. (Hooker)
An established or organised 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.
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. There is another manuscript, of above three hundred years old, . . . Being an institution of physic. (Evelyn)