institute

American  

[in-sti-toot, -tyoot] / ˈɪn stɪˌtut, -ˌtjut /

verb (used with object)

• institutes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• instituted,
  past participle,  past
• instituting
  present participle

1. to set up; establish; organize.

   to institute a government.

2. to inaugurate; initiate; start.

   to institute a new course in American literature.

3. to set in operation.

   to institute a lawsuit.

4. to bring into use or practice.

   to institute laws.

5. to establish in an office or position.

6. Ecclesiastical. to assign to or invest with a spiritual charge, as of a parish.

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noun

• institutes
  plural

1. a society or organization for carrying on a particular work, as of a literary, scientific, or educational character.

2. the building occupied by such a society.

3. Education.

   1. an institution, generally beyond the secondary school level, devoted to instruction in technical subjects, usually separate but sometimes organized as a part of a university.

   2. a unit within a university organized for advanced instruction and research in a relatively narrow field of subject matter.

   3. a short instructional program set up for a special group interested in a specialized field or subject.

4. an established principle, law, custom, or organization.

5. institutes,

   1. an elementary textbook of law designed for beginners.

   2. Also called Institutes of Justinian.  (initial capital letter) an elementary treatise on Roman law in four books, forming one of the four divisions of the Corpus Juris Civilis.

6. something instituted.

institute British  

/ ˈɪnstɪˌtjuːt /

verb

1. to organize; establish

2. to initiate

   to institute a practice

3. to establish in a position or office; induct

4. to install (a clergyman) in a church

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noun

1. an organization founded for particular work, such as education, promotion of the arts, or scientific research

2. the building where such an organization is situated

3. something instituted, esp a rule, custom, or precedent

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• institutor
  noun
• reinstitute
  verb (used with object)
• uninstituted
  adjective
• well-instituted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• institutes
  plural

Participles

• instituting
  present
• instituted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• institute
  simple
• institutes
  simple
• have instituted
  perfect
• has instituted
  perfect
• am instituting
  progressive
• are instituting
  progressive
• is instituting
  progressive
• have been instituting
  perfect progressive
• has been instituting
  perfect progressive

Past

• instituted
  simple
• had instituted
  perfect
• was instituting
  progressive
• were instituting
  progressive
• had been instituting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will institute
  simple
• will have instituted
  perfect
• will be instituting
  progressive
• will have been instituting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of institute

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Latin institūtus, past participle of instituere “to set, put up, establish,” equivalent to in- ”in” + -stitū- (combining form of statū-, stem of statuere “to place upright, set, stand” ) + -tus past participle suffix; see in- ², stand

Explanation

An institute is an organization or association designed to study or promote something. If you're interested in politics, you might want to do an internship at one of Washington D.C.'s many political research institutes. While you may have heard of an institute, whether it’s the National Institute for Art Advancement or the National Cancer Institute, you may not know institute in its verb form. To institute something means to establish or advance it. You might institute the hiring of Spanish-speakers at your company, or, if workers complain about being overworked, you might institute a new policy on taking breaks.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

institute institutes instituted instituting

Before running for governor, he founded Golden Together, a policy institute focused on researching issues like housing costs, homelessness and the state’s business climate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

A U.K. government-backed AI research institute said Tuesday that during routine tests, models built by OpenAI and Anthropic unexpectedly took “autonomous, unsanctioned action on the live internet, targeting real people and organisations.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

The institute forecast it would continue to fall to 1,500cm per second by Tuesday.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

The institute provided more than $12 million to support the study.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

He would read as many as four a day in order to decree and institute everything that came into his head.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

There's been great progress in education enrolment and the number of private colleges and vocational training institutes have gone up exponentially in the last two decades.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

“What happened during that period was that a consensus emerged,” Eustis said, noting that it was expressed in the form of national endowments, state arts agencies, public policy institutes and corporate philanthropic departments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Purchases or purchase orders by government-linked buyers — local governments, state-backed industrial parks, public research institutes, state-owned companies and government-funded demonstration projects — have soared.

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

In private, German officials say some relabeling has happened but nowhere near the level alleged by the institutes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026

He runs the new neuroimaging lab at the University of California at San Francisco, one of the world’s leading scientific institutes.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

The company has also instituted new pricing moves early in the current quarter, including short-term capacity agreements, and these “are showing promise,” according to Volozh’s letter.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

And in Myrtle Beach, S.C., officials instituted an “umbrellas-only rule” from Memorial Day through Labor Day citing safety.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026

The victory galvanized American forces, who instituted a naval blockade that resulted in a debilitating food shortage in Tripoli.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026

Many tech giants have instituted layoffs as they decide they need fewer workers and more funding for AI.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

Other re-forms were in the offing but would be instituted very slowly, “so as to only create a tiny ripple back.”

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

But there are significant practical problems even with doing that, let alone instituting a sweeping new civic contract.

From Salon ● May 18, 2026

The company is now instituting governance practices to prevent too many AI agents from providing conflicting results for the same problem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

The state government established what was called a “concurrency doctrine,” instituting strict requirements for infrastructure development—water, sewer, schooling—that had to be established before construction permits were granted.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

That demand-destruction scenario is already now playing out in several Asian countries, which have moved to curb crude consumption by instituting four-day workweeks, early office closures and other power-saving measures.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026

Once it was gone, he was glad to be rid of it, for he had been troubled from the start by the danger of instituting the plan without first checking it out with Colonel Korn.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Related Words

• appoint
• come up with
• create
• enact
• establish
• inaugurate
• initiate
• install
• introduce
• launch
• organize
• set up