The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Institute \In"sti*tute\ ([i^]n"st[i^]*t[=u]t), p. a. [L.
   institutus, p. p. of instituere to place in, to institute, to
   instruct; pref. in- in + statuere to cause to stand, to set.
   See Statute.]
   Established; organized; founded. [Obs.]
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         They have but few laws. For to a people so instruct and
         institute, very few to suffice.          --Robynson
                                                  (More's
                                                  Utopia).
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Institute \In"sti*tute\ ([i^]n"st[i^]*t[=u]t), v. t. [imp. & p.
   p. Instituted ([i^]n"st[i^]*t[=u]`t[e^]d); p. pr. & vb. n.
   Instituting.]
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   1. To set up; to establish; to ordain; as, to institute laws,
      rules, etc.
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   2. To originate and establish; to found; to organize; as, to
      institute a court, or a society.
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            Whenever any from of government becomes destructive
            of these ends it is the right of the people to alter
            or to abolish it, and to institute a new government.
                                                  --Jefferson
                                                  (Decl. of
                                                  Indep. ).
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   3. To nominate; to appoint. [Obs.]
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            We institute your Grace
            To be our regent in these parts of France. --Shak.
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   4. To begin; to commence; to set on foot; as, to institute an
      inquiry; to institute a suit.
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            And haply institute
            A course of learning and ingenious studies. --Shak.
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   5. To ground or establish in principles and rudiments; to
      educate; to instruct. [Obs.]
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            If children were early instituted, knowledge would
            insensibly insinuate itself.          --Dr. H. More.
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   6. (Eccl. Law) To invest with the spiritual charge of a
      benefice, or the care of souls. --Blackstone.

   Syn: To originate; begin; commence; establish; found; erect;
        organize; appoint; ordain.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Institute \In"sti*tute\, n. [L. institutum: cf. F. institut. See
   Institute, v. t. & a.]
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   1. The act of instituting; institution. [Obs.] "Water
      sanctified by Christ's institute." --Milton.
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   2. That which is instituted, established, or fixed, as a law,
      habit, or custom. --Glover.
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   3. 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.
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            They made a sort of institute and digest of anarchy.
                                                  --Burke.
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            To make the Stoics' institutes thy own. --Dryden.
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   4. An institution; a society established for the promotion of
      learning, art, science, etc.; a college; as, the Institute
      of Technology; The Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
      also, a building owned or occupied by such an institute;
      as, the Cooper Institute.
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   5. (Scots Law) The person to whom an estate is first given by
      destination or limitation. --Tomlins.
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   Institutes of medicine, theoretical medicine; that
      department of medical science which attempts to account
      philosophically for the various phenomena of health as
      well as of disease; physiology applied to the practice of
      medicine. --Dunglison.
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Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

89 Moby Thesaurus words for "institute":
   Schule, academy, alliance, association, author, bear, beget, begin,
   breed, bring about, bring forth, bring to effect, bring to pass,
   bring up, broach, cause, christen, commence, conceive, constitute,
   create, decree, decretum, do, ecole, edict,
   educational institution, effect, effectuate, engender, escuela,
   establish, establishment, father, float, form, found, foundation,
   generate, gestate, give birth to, give occasion to, give origin to,
   give rise to, guild, inaugurate, incept, induct, initiate, install,
   institution, introduce, launch, law, league, lift up, make,
   materialize, occasion, ordinance, organization, organize,
   originate, pioneer, precept, prescript, produce, raise, realize,
   regulation, ring in, rule, scholastic institution, school,
   seminary, set afloat, set agoing, set on foot, set up, sire,
   society, start, start going, start up, statute,
   teaching institution, turn on, usher in, work