1. A legal treatise or commentary, such as Coke’s Institutes in four volumes (published in 1628).
2. (cap. & pl.) An elementary treatise on Roman law in four books. • This treatise is one of the four component parts of the Corpus Juris Civilis.
— Also termed Institutes of Justinian; Justinian’s Institutes. See CORPUS JURIS CIVILIS.
3. (cap. & pl.) An elementary treatise written by the Roman jurist Gaius. • The Institutes, written in the second century A.D., served as a foundation for the Institutes of Justinian.
— Also termed Institutes of Gaius.
4. (cap. & pl.) A paraphrase of Justinian’s Institutes written in Greek by Theophilus, a law professor at Constantinople who helped prepare the Institutes of Justinian. • This work was prepared in the sixth century A.D.
— Also termed Paraphrase of Theophilus; Institutes of Theophilus.
5. Civil law. A person named in a will as heir, but under directions to pass the estate on to some other specified person (called the substitute). See SUBSTITUTE(2).
6. An organization devoted to the study and improvement of the law. See AMERICAN LAW INSTITUTE.
institute, vb. To begin or start; commence (institute legal proceedings against the manufacturer).
