institution

See also: Institution

English

Etymology

From Middle English institucioun, from Old French institution, from Latin institūtiō, from instituō (“to set up”), from in- (“in, on”) + statuō (“to set up, establish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪnstɪˈtjuːʃən/, /ˌɪnstɪˈtʃuːʃən/
• IPA^(key): /ˌɪnstɪˈtuːʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

institution (countable and uncountable, plural institutions)

1. A custom or practice of a society or community.

   The institution of marriage is present in many cultures but its details vary widely across them.

2. A long established and respected organization, particularly one involved with education, public service, or charity work.

   The University of the South Pacific is the only internationally accredited institution of higher education in Oceania.

3. The building or buildings which house such an organization.

   He's been in an institution since the crash.

4. (informal) Any long established and respected place or business.

   Over time, the local pub has become something of an institution.

   • 2009 February 19, Gareth Lewis, “Giles Coren slams Winchester pub The Wykeham Arms”, in Southern Daily Echo‎^[1]:

     [quoting Giles Coren] "The Wykeham Arms [a pub] is destroyed. They have turned a great old English institution into a shameful clip-joint. It's a shuddering, howling tragedy."

5. (informal) A person long established in a place, position, or field.

   She's not just any old scholar; she is an institution.

6. The act of instituting something.

   The institution of higher speed limits was a popular move but increased the severity of crashes.

   • 1894, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough‎^[2]:

     Accordingly if we can show that a barbarous custom, like that of the priesthood of Nemi, has existed elsewhere; if we can detect the motives which led to its institution; if we can prove that these motives have operated widely, perhaps universally, in human society...

7. (Christianity) The act by which a bishop commits a cure of souls to a priest. (Can we clean up⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)
8. (obsolete) That which institutes or instructs, particularly a textbook or system of elements or rules.

Synonyms

• establishment

Derived terms

• academic institution
• educational institution
• institution-building
• research institution

Related terms

• institute
• institutional
• institutionalism
• institutionalist

Translations

established organisation

• Arabic: مُؤَسَّسَة (ar) f (muʔassasa)
• Belarusian: устано́ва (be) f (ustanóva)
• Bulgarian: учрежде́ние (bg) n (učreždénie), институ́ция f (institúcija)
• Catalan: institució (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 機關／机关 (zh) (jīguān), 机关 (zh) (jīguān), 機構／机构 (zh) (jīgòu), 机构 (zh) (jīgòu)

• Czech: instituce (cs) f
• Danish: institution c
• Dutch: instelling (nl)
• Esperanto: institucio
• Finnish: instituutio (fi), laitos (fi), toimielin (fi) (political institution)
• French: institution (fr) f
• Galician: institución (gl)
• German: Institution (de) f
• Greek: ίδρυμα (el) n (ídryma)
• Hungarian: intézmény (hu)
• Icelandic: stofnun f
• Indonesian: institusi (id)
• Italian: istituzione (it)
• Japanese: 機構 (ja) (きこう, kikō), 機関 (ja) (きかん, kikan)
• Korean: 기관(機關) (ko) (gigwan)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: دەزگا (ckb) (dezga)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latvian: iestāde f
• Macedonian: институција f (institucija)
• Malayalam: സ്ഥാപനം (ml) (sthāpanaṁ)
• Persian: سازمان (fa) (sâzmân)
• Polish: instytucja (pl) f
• Portuguese: instituição (pt) f
• Romanian: instituție (ro) f
• Russian: учрежде́ние (ru) n (učreždénije), заведе́ние (ru) n (zavedénije), организа́ция (ru) f (organizácija), ве́домство (ru) n (védomstvo), институ́ция (ru) f (institúcija)
• Scottish Gaelic: stèidheachadh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: институ́ција f

  Roman: institúcija (sh) f

• Slovak: inštitúcia f
• Slovene: institucija f
• Spanish: institución (es) f
• Swahili: taasisi (sw), chuo (sw)
• Swedish: institut (sv) n
• Tagalog: tatagin
• Thai: สถาบัน (th) (sà-tǎa-ban)
• Turkish: müessese (tr), kuruluş (tr), kurum (tr)
• Ukrainian: устано́ва f (ustanóva), за́клад m (základ), організа́ція (uk) f (orhanizácija), інститу́ція f (instytúcija)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

custom or practice of a society or community

• Belarusian: інстыту́т m (instytút), інстыту́цыя f (instytúcyja)
• Bulgarian: пра́ктика (bg) f (práktika), институ́ция f (institúcija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 制度 (zh) (zhìdù)

• Czech: instituce (cs) f
• Danish: institution c
• Finnish: instituutio (fi)
• German: Institution (de) f
• Greek: θεσμός (el) m (thesmós)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: intézmény (hu)
• Indonesian: institusi (id), pranata (id)
• Japanese: 制度 (ja) (せいど, seido)
• Korean: 제도(制度) (ko) (jedo)
• Persian: رسم (fa) (rasm)
• Russian: институ́т (ru) m (institút), институ́ция (ru) f (institúcija)
• Tagalog: gawiin
• Ukrainian: інститу́т m (instytút), інститу́ція f (instytúcija)

person long established with a certain place or position

• Bulgarian: институ́ция f (institúcija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: instituutio (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Institution (de) f
• Greek: μορφή (el) f (morfí), προσωπικότητα (el) f (prosopikótita)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

References

• “institution”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• institution in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "institution" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 168.
• “institution”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “institution”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

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Danish

Etymology

From Latin īnstitūtiō.

Noun

institution c (singular definite institutionen, plural indefinite institutioner)

1. institution

Inflection

Declension of institution

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	institution	institutionen	institutioner	institutionerne
genitive	institutions	institutionens	institutioners	institutionernes

Derived terms

• institutionalisere
• institutionalisering
• institutionel
• institutionsbarn
• institutionskøkken
• institutionsophold
• institutionsplads
• institutionspræg
• institutionstakst
• uddannelsesinstitution
• undervisningsinstitution

 

References

• “institution” in Den Danske Ordbog

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French

Etymology

From Latin īnstitūtiō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃s.ti.ty.sjɔ̃/

• Audio: "contre institution":

  (file)

Noun

institution f (plural institutions)

1. institution

Further reading

• “institution”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Swedish

Etymology

From Latin īnstitūtiō.

Noun

institution c

1. an institution (an established organization)
2. an institution (a habit)
3. an institution (a person)
4. a department (at a university)

   datavetenskapliga institutionen

   department of computer science

   institutionen för fysik

   department of physics

Declension

Declension of institution

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	institution	institutions
	definite	institutionen	institutionens
plural	indefinite	institutioner	institutioners
	definite	institutionerna	institutionernas

Related terms

• instituera
• institut
• institutionalisera
• institutionell
• kulturinstitution

Further reading

• institution in Svensk ordbok.