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

The institute is partly industry-funded, including by the OpenAI Foundation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also urged Moscow to clarify "media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause" at the Irkutsk institute.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

It was reported last week that a worker at an anti-plague institute in Siberia's Irkutsk region died of pneumonic plague.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

The anti-plague institute in Irkutsk was established in 1934, under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, to control cases of plague, its website says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

“Well, that’s great! So how does the institute work?”

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

A group of major German economic research institutes recently hiked forecasts for economic growth this year to 1.3%, almost doubling its prior forecast made in March, driven by strong exports and a robust manufacturing sector.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

But polling groups such as Datafolha, one of Brazil's most respected institutes, suggest that this election has been a battle of rejection rates.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

The company told me that it’s “pleased with the analysis” and added, “we regularly provide data to credible and verified third-party research firms and institutes to ensure accuracy and factual representation in any public reporting.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

The demonstrations aimed to showcase Europe's significant strengths in robotics thanks to many public and private research institutes, as well as start-ups and industrial groups.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

After that night Met Bong institutes a new policy and we now take turns guarding the camp at night.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

But recently, they instituted a “cold call rule” allowing them to call each other anytime, day or night, without texting first.

From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2026

He noted that the $100 price hikes on newer and earlier-generation phones came in below the $150 to $200 increases on iPad and MacBooks instituted this summer.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

Johnson has apparently instituted a number of USA-style flourishes into the program.

From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026

The closest any has come to clarity may be Walmart, whose top executives told investors in May that they had instituted price “rollbacks” on 7,200 items, 20% more than last year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

In Wacquant’s words: “Racial division was a consequence, not a precondition of slavery, but once it was instituted it became detached from its initial function and acquired a social potency all its own.”

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

The company is also instituting a feature that would lock out users behaving abnormally.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

On top of that, he pointed out that Micron has been instituting long-term agreements, which lock in contracts with customers to sell capacity in advance and can limit volatility down the road.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 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

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has said the manufacturing powerhouse, the world's eighth-largest consumer of crude oil, is moving towards instituting fuel price caps to alleviate pressure on the country's energy supply.

From Barron's ● Mar. 9, 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