established; organized; founded.-to set up; to establish; to ordain; as, to institute laws, rules, etc.-to originate and establish; to found; to organize; as, to institute a court, or a society.-to nominate; to appoint.-to begin; to commence; to set on foot; as, to institute an inquiry; to institute a suit.-to ground or establish in principles and rudiments; to educate; to instruct.-to invest with the spiritual charge of a benefice, or the care of souls.-the act of instituting; institution.-that which is instituted, established, or fixed, as a law, habit, or custom.-hence: an elementary and necessary principle; a precept, maxim, or rule, recognized as established and authoritative; usually in the plural, a collection of such principles and precepts; esp., a comprehensive summary of legal principles and decisions; as, the institutes of justinian; coke's institutes of the laws of england.  cf. digest, n.-an institution; a society established for the promotion of learning, art, science, etc.; a college; as, the institute of technology; also, a building owned or occupied by such an institute; as, the cooper institute.-the person to whom an estate is first given by destination or limitation.