INSTITUTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does institution mean? 

• INSTITUTION (noun)
  The noun INSTITUTION has 5 senses:

1. an organization founded and united for a specific purpose

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

4. the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new

5. a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person

  Familiarity information: INSTITUTION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSTITUTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An organization founded and united for a specific purpose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

establishment; institution

Hypernyms ("institution" is a kind of...):

organisation; organization (a group of people who work together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "institution"):

medical institution (an institution created for the practice of medicine)

financial institution; financial organisation; financial organization (an institution (public or private) that collects funds (from the public or other institutions) and invests them in financial assets)

issuer (an institution that issues something (securities or publications or currency etc.))

charity (an institution set up to provide help to the needy)

company (an institution created to conduct business)

faith; organized religion; religion (an institution to express belief in a divine power)

vicariate; vicarship (the religious institution under the authority of a vicar)

educational institution (an institution dedicated to education)

academy; honorary society (an institution for the advancement of art or science or literature)

Derivation:

institutional (organized as or forming an institution)

institutional (relating to or constituting or involving an institution)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An establishment consisting of a building or complex of buildings where an organization for the promotion of some cause is situated

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("institution" is a kind of...):

establishment (a public or private structure (business or governmental or educational) including buildings and equipment for business or residence)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "institution"):

home; nursing home; rest home (an institution where people are cared for)

orphanage; orphans' asylum (a public institution for the care of orphans)

penal facility; penal institution (an institution where persons are confined for punishment and to protect the public)

Derivation:

institutional (relating to or constituting or involving an institution)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A custom that for a long time has been an important feature of some group or society

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

he had become an institution in the theater

Hypernyms ("institution" is a kind of...):

custom; tradition (a specific practice of long standing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "institution"):

levirate (the biblical institution whereby a man must marry the widow of his childless brother in order to maintain the brother's line)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

creation; foundation; founding; initiation; innovation; instauration; institution; introduction; origination

Context example:

the foundation of a new scientific society

Hypernyms ("institution" is a kind of...):

beginning; commencement; start (the act of starting something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "institution"):

authorship; paternity (the act of initiating a new idea or theory or writing)

Derivation:

institute (set up or lay the groundwork for)

institutionalise (cause to be admitted; of persons to an institution)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

asylum; insane asylum; institution; mental home; mental hospital; mental institution; psychiatric hospital

Hypernyms ("institution" is a kind of...):

hospital; infirmary (a health facility where patients receive treatment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "institution"):

Bedlam; booby hatch; crazy house; cuckoo's nest; funny farm; funny house; loony bin; madhouse; nut house; nuthouse; sanatorium; snake pit (pejorative terms for an insane asylum)

Derivation:

institutional (relating to or constituting or involving an institution)

institutionalise; institutionalize (cause to be admitted; of persons to an institution)

 Context examples 

Well, all the girls here have lost either one or both parents, and this is called an institution for educating orphans.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A clinical trial that is carried out at more than one medical institution.

(Multi-Institutional Clinical Trial, NCI Dictionary)

The AACI's mission combines those of its member institutions and the national cancer program.

(Association of American Cancer Institutes, NCI Thesaurus)

They may provide the care in the home, in a hospital, or in an institution.

(Caregiver, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

He had never been inside a bank in his life, and he had an idea that such institutions were frequented only by the very rich and the very powerful.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A category used for classifying sources of research reagents obtained through academic institutions.

(Non-Commercial Sources, NCI Thesaurus)

An identifying number within an institution that is used to reference a subject's medical information.

(Medical Record Number, NCI Thesaurus)

The product is being develop by scientists from the Institute of Drug Technology (Farmanguinhos), linked to FIOCRUZ, the main institution for the production of antiretroviral medicines with Brazil's Ministry of Health.

(New HIV medicine under development for children in Brazil, Agência Brasil/EBC)

Partner institutions include St. Louis Children's Hospital and BJC Healthcare.

(Alvin J Siteman Cancer Center, NCI Thesaurus)

Researchers at the University of Arizona (UA) and other institutions have discovered a new twist on the idea that evolution is driven by species interactions in a community.

(Colorful bird feathers offer evolutionary clues, National Science Foundation)