| instantaneous vector | The resultant vector of the heart's action currents at any given moment, usually represented as an arrow of appropriate direction and magnitude. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| instar | An insect or other arthropod that is between molts (molting is shedding its outer shell, or exoskeleton). (09 Oct 1997) |
| instep | The arch, or highest part of the dorsum of the foot. See: tarsus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| instill | To drop in; to pour in drop by drop; hence, to impart gradually; to infuse slowly; to cause to be imbibed. Synonym: To infuse, impart, inspire, implant, inculcate, insinuate. Origin: L. Instillare = to drop, instillatum; fr. Stilla a drop: cf. F. Instiller. (27 Oct 1998) |
| instillation | To drop in; to pour in drop by drop; hence, to impart gradually; to infuse slowly; to cause to be imbibed. Synonym: To infuse, impart, inspire, implant, inculcate, insinuate. Origin: L. Instillatio, from stillare = to drop (18 Nov 1997) |
| instillation, drug | The administration of therapeutic agents drop by drop, as eye drops, ear drops, or nose drops. It is also administered into a body space or cavity through a catheter. It differs from irrigation in that the irrigate is removed within minutes, but the instillate is left in place. (12 Dec 1998) |
| instillator | A device for performing instillation. Synonym: dropper. (05 Mar 2000) |
| instinct | 1. Natural inward impulse; unconscious, involuntary, or unreasoning prompting to any mode of action, whether bodily, or mental, without a distinct apprehension of the end or object to be accomplished. "An instinct is a propensity prior to experience, and independent of instructions." (Paley) "An instinct is a blind tendency to some mode of action, independent of any consideration, on the part of the agent, of the end to which the action leads." (Whately) "An instinct is an agent which performs blindly and ignorantly a work of intelligence and knowledge." (Sir W. Hamilton) "By a divine instinct, men's minds mistrust Ensuing dangers." (Shak) 2. <zoology> Specif, the natural, unreasoning, impulse by which an animal is guided to the performance of any action, without of improvement in the method. "The resemblance between what originally was a habit, and an instinct becomes so close as not to be distinguished." (Darwin) 3. A natural aptitude or knack; a predilection; as, an instinct for order; to be modest by instinct. Origin: L. Instinctus instigation, impulse, fr. Instinguere to instigate: cf. F. Instinct. See Instinct. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| instinctive | Of or pertaining to instinct; derived from, or prompted by, instinct; of the nature of instinct; determined by natural impulse or propensity; acting or produced without reasoning, deliberation, instruction, or experience; spontaneous. "Instinctive motion." . "Instinctive dread." "With taste instinctive give Each grace appropriate." (Mason) "Have we had instinctive intimations of the death of some absent friends?" (Bp. Hall) The terms instinctive belief, instinctive judgment, instinctive cognition, are expressions not ill adapted to characterise a belief, judgment, or cognition, which, as the result of no anterior consciousness, is, like the products of animal instinct, the intelligent effect of (as far as we are concerned) an unknown cause. Synonym: Natural, voluntary, spontaneous, original, innate, inherent, automatic. Origin: Cf. F. Instinctif. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| 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) |
| 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) |