Institution \In`sti*tu"tion\, n. [L. institutio: cf. F. institution.]

1. The act or process of instituting; as:
   (a) Establishment; foundation; enactment; as, the institution of a school.

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.

2. That which instituted or established; as:
   (a) Established order, method, or custom; enactment; ordinance; permanent form of law or polity.

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.

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. [Obs.]

There is another manuscript, of above three hundred years old, . . . being an institution of physic. --Evelyn.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)