From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Institution \In'sti*tu"tion\, noun [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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: an organization founded and united for a specific purpose [syn: {establishment}]
2: an establishment consisting of a building or complex of buildings where an organization for the promotion of some cause is situated
3: a custom that for a long time has been an important feature of some group or society; "the institution of marriage"; "the institution of slavery"; "he had become an institution in the theater"
4: the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new; "she looked forward to her initiation as an adult"; "the foundation of a new scientific society"; "he regards the fork as a modern introduction" [syn: {initiation}, {founding}, {foundation}, {origination}, {creation}, {innovation}, {introduction}, {instauration}]
5: a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person [syn: {mental hospital}, {psychiatric hospital}, {mental institution}, {mental home}, {insane asylum}, {asylum}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
158 Moby Thesaurus words for "institution": A, academy, act, agency, alpha, apostolic orders, appointment, asylum, atelier, barbershop, beauty parlor, beauty shop, beginning, bench, bill, blast-off, butcher shop, bylaw, calling, canon, canonization, ceremonial, ceremony, college, commencement, company, concern, conferment, consecration, constitution, corporation, creation, custom, cutting edge, dawn, decree, desk, dictate, dictation, doctrine, dogma, duty, edge, edict, effectuation, election, enactment, establishing, establishment, facility, firm, fixture, flying start, form, form of worship, formality, formation, forming, formula, formulary, foundation, founding, fresh start, function, habit, holy orders, holy rite, home, hospital, house, inauguration, inception, induction, installation, institute, introduction, investiture, jump-off, jus, kick-off, law, leading edge, legislation, lex, liturgy, loft, major orders, materialization, measure, minor orders, mode of worship, mystery, new departure, nomination, observance, office, oncoming, onset, opening, ordainment, order of worship, orders, ordinance, ordination, ordonnance, organization, origin, origination, outbreak, outset, parlor, practice, preferment, prescribed form, prescript, prescription, presentation, reading in, realization, regulation, rite, ritual, ritual observance, rituality, routine, rubric, rule, ruling, running start, sacrament, sacramental, school, send-off, service, setting in motion, setting-up, shop, solemnity, square one, standing order, start, start-off, starting point, statute, studio, sweatshop, take-off, tradition, university, work site, work space, workbench, workhouse, working space, workplace, workroom, workshop, worktable
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