institution

The commencement or inauguration of anything, as the commencement of an action. The first establishment of a law, rule, rite, etc. Any custom, system, organization, etc., firmly established. An elementary rule or principle.

See also institute

An establishment, especially one of eleemosynary or public character or one affecting a community. An established or organized society or corporation. It may be private in its character, designed for profit to those composing the organization, or public and charitable in its purposes, or educational (e.g. college or university). In re Peabody's Estate, 21 Cal.App.2d 690, 70 P.2d 249, 250.

A foundation, as a literary or charitable institution. Prescott Courier v. Board of Sup'rs of Yavapai County, 49 Ariz. 423, 67 P.2d 483, 486.

Civil law.

The appointment of an heir; the act by which a testator nominates one or more persons to succeed him in all his rights active and passive.

Political law.

A law, rite, or ceremony enjoined by authority as a permanent rule of conduct or of government. An organized society, established either by law or the authority of individuals, for promoting any object, public or social. A system or body of usages, laws, or regulations, of extensive and recurring operation, containing within itself an organism by which it effects its own independent action, continuance, and generally its own further development. Its object is to generate, effect, regulate, or sanction a succession of acts, transactions, or productions of a peculiar kind or class. We are likewise in the habit of calling single laws or usages "institutions," if their operation is of vital importance and vast scope, and if their continuance is in a high degree independent of any interfering power.

Practice.

Commencement of civil action or criminal prosecution.

See commence.

@ public institution

One which is created and exists by law or public authority, for benefit of public in general; e.g., a public hospital, charity, college, university, etc.

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