| institute | 1. The act of instituting; institution. "Water sanctified by Christ's institute." 2. That which is instituted, established, or fixed, as a law, habit, or custom. 3. Hence: An elementary and necessary principle; a precept, maxim, or rule, recognised as established and authoritative; usually in the plural, a collection of such principles and precepts; especially, a comprehensive summary of legal principles and decisions; as, the Institutes of Justinian; Coke's Institutes of the Laws of England. Cf. Digest, "They made a sort of institute and digest of anarchy." (Burke) "To make the Stoics' institutes thy own." (Dryden) 4. An institution; a society established for the promotion of learning, art, science, etc.; a college; as, the Institute of Technology; also, a building owned or occupied by such an institute; as, the Cooper Institute. 5. The person to whom an estate is first given by destination or limitation. 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. Origin: L. Institutum: cf. F. Institut. See Institute, &. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| institute of medicine | Identifies, for study and analysis, important issues and problems that relate to health and medicine. The institute initiates and conducts studies of national policy and planning for health care and health-related education and research; it also responds to requests from the federal government and other agencies for studies and advice. (12 Dec 1998) |
| institution | 1. The act or process of instituting; as: Establishment; foundation; enactment; as, the institution of a school. "The institution of God's law is described as being established by solemn injunction." (Hooker) Instruction; education. The act or ceremony of investing a clergyman with the spiritual part of a benefice, by which the care of souls is committed to his charge. 2. That which instituted or established; as: Established order, method, or custom; enactment; ordinance; permanent form of law or polity. "The nature of our people, Our city's institutions." (Shak) An established or organised society or corporation; an establishment, especially of a public character, or affecting a community; a foundation; as, a literary institution; a charitable institution; also, a building or the buildings occupied or used by such organization; as, the Smithsonian Institution. Anything forming a characteristic and persistent feature in social or national life or habits. "We ordered a lunch (the most delightful of English institutions, next to dinner) to be ready against our return." (Hawthorne) 3. That which institutes or instructs; a textbook; a system of elements or rules; an institute. "There is another manuscript, of above three hundred years old, . . . Being an institution of physic." (Evelyn) Origin: L. Institutio: cf. F. Institution. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| institutional management teams | Administrator-selected management groups who are responsible for making decisions pertaining to the provision of integrated direction for various institutional functions. (12 Dec 1998) |
| institutional practice | Professional practice as an employee or contractee of a health care institution. (12 Dec 1998) |
| institutionalization | The caring for individuals in institutions and their adaptation to routines characteristic of the institutional environment, and/or their loss of adaptation to life outside the institution. (12 Dec 1998) |
| instrascene dynamic range | <microscopy> The greatest ratio of highlight to shadow brightness to within a single scene that a video camera (tube) can handle usefully. Contrast with the usable light range of a camera, which is considerably greater than the instrascene dynamic range. See: illumination, Kohler. (05 Aug 1998) |
| instream cover | Areas of shelter in a stream channel that provide aquatic organisms protection from predators or competitors and/or a place in which to rest and conserve energy due to a reduction in the force of the current. (09 Oct 1997) |
| instream flow incremental methodology | Technique to predict the biomass of a fish species or life stage that a stream reach can support at a given flow, given knowledge of the fishes' physical habitat preferences. (09 Oct 1997) |
| instruction | The act of furnishing with authoritative directions. (18 Nov 1997) |
| instructive theory | Theory of antibody production, now considered untenable, in which antigen acted as template for the production of specific antibody as opposed to the clonal selection theory in which pre existing variation occurs and appropriate clones are selectively expanded. (18 Nov 1997) |
| instructress | A woman who instructs; a preceptress; a governess. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| instrument | A tool or implement. Origin: L. Instrumentum (05 Mar 2000) |
| instrumental | 1. Acting as an instrument; serving as a means; contributing to promote; conductive; helpful; serviceable; as, he was instrumental in conducting the business. "The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth." (Shak) 2. Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, especially. A musical instrument; as, instrumental music, distinguished from vocal music. "He defended the use of instrumental music in public worship." "Sweet voices mix'd with instrumental sounds." (Dryden) 3. Applied to a case expressing means or agency; as, the instrumental case. This is found in Sanskrit as a separate case, but in Greek it was merged into the dative, and in Latin into the ablative. In Old English it was a separate case, but has disappeared, leaving only a few anomalous forms. Instrumental errors, those errors in instrumental measurements, etc, which arise, exclusively from want of mathematical accuracy in an instrument. Origin: Cf. F. Instrumental. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| instrumental amusia | Loss of ability to play a musical instrument. (05 Mar 2000) |