institution

American  

[in-sti-too-shuhn, -tyoo-] / ˌɪn stɪˈtu ʃən, -ˈtju- /

noun

institutions plural

1. an organization, establishment, foundation, society, or the like, devoted to the promotion of a particular cause or program, especially one of a public, educational, or charitable character.

   This college is the best institution of its kind.

2. the building occupied by such an establishment.

3. a public or private place for the care or confinement of inmates, especially mental patients or other persons with physical or mental disabilities.

4. Sociology. a well-established and structured pattern of behavior or of relationships that is accepted as a fundamental part of a culture, as marriage.

   the institution of the family.

5. any established law, custom, etc.

6. any familiar, long-established person, thing, or practice; fixture.

7. the act of instituting or setting up; establishment.

   the institution of laws.

8. Ecclesiastical.

   1. the origination of the Eucharist, and enactment of its observance, by Christ.

   2. the investment of a member of the clergy with a spiritual charge.

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institution British  

/ ˌɪnstɪˈtjuːʃən /

noun

1. the act of instituting

2. an organization or establishment founded for a specific purpose, such as a hospital, church, company, or college

3. the building where such an organization is situated

4. an established custom, law, or relationship in a society or community

5. Also called: institutional investor.  a large organization, such as an insurance company, bank, or pension fund, that has substantial sums to invest on a stock exchange

6. informal a constant feature or practice

   Jones' drink at the bar was an institution

7. the appointment or admission of an incumbent to an ecclesiastical office or pastoral charge

8. Christian theol the creation of a sacrament by Christ, esp the Eucharist

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• counterinstitution
  noun
• noninstitution
  noun
• reinstitution
  noun
• institutionary
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• institutions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of institution

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin institūtiōn-, stem of institūtiō; equivalent to institute + -ion

Explanation

Universities, banks, and hospitals are all institutions. Until you arrived at the bank, you'd forgotten that financial institutions were closed for the holiday. Thank goodness for the ATM! The noun institution also refers to a long held custom or practice in society. Even if your parents divorced when you were young, you might strongly believe in the institution of marriage. Or you might believe that once you enter the institution of marriage, your next stop will probably be a mental institution. Institution can also describe the act of putting something in place. The institution of new traffic rules — green means stop and red means go — caused a bit of confusion.

Example Sentences

Aaron Klein, senior fellow in the Center on Regulation and Markets at the Brookings Institution, predicted that pressure for further regulation would continue to mount.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026

Concentrations there are around 12ppb says Peter Barry, a geochemist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a scientific advisor to the company.

From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026

Another adviser is Daniel Heil, a policy fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution who was an economic policy adviser to Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026

Compared with her trip to China, Cheng can expect "far less pomp and far sharper questions" in the United States, said Ryan Hass, an expert on China and Taiwan at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

From Barron's • Jun. 1, 2026

More puzzling, at least to present-day eyes, were the equally vehement objections voiced by professional archaeologists and anthropologists, especially those at the Smithsonian Institution, which had established a Bureau of American Ethnology in 1879.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• academy
• association
• business
• clinic
• company
• establishment
• foundation
• hospital
• institute
• school
• society
• system
• university