Etymologically
Log in

Institut

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 18:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ɪn.stiˈtuːt/[1]

Forms

Institut n (genitive Institutes or Instituts, plural Institute)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin īnstitūtum (“arrangement, institution”), the noun use of the past participle of īnstituō (“to set up, establish, arrange”), from in- and statuō (“to set up, erect”).[2][3][4] It is the same word as Dutch instituut, English institute and French institut.[2] Through the Latin verb it is related to Statut, and, further back, to stehen.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Paul finds the word in Simon Rot's dictionary of foreign words of 1571.[5] In the 16th century it meant “order, rule”;[3][4] Early New High German also used it for the Institutes of Justinian, a textbook of law, and for a custom or customary law.[6]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, an establishment for education, teaching or research, appeared in the 18th century.[2][3][4] The Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch has Erziehungsinstitut in 1775, and Moritz writes in Anton Reiser (1785) of an Institut where young people were trained as village schoolmasters.[7] Kinderling (1795) records it for a school, a poorhouse, an ordinance and a foundation.[7] From the end of the 18th century, like French institut, it was used especially of academic bodies.[5]

The academic prestige of the word was later borrowed by trade, in Geldinstitut “bank” or Gottfried Benn's Schönheitsinstitut “beauty salon”.[5] In the sense of Institution, a legal or social arrangement, as in Riehl's das Institut der Familie, it is now rare except in law.[5][8]

Timeline

  • 1571 – Simon Rot's dictionary of foreign words has the word.[5]
  • 16th century – Used now and then for “order, rule”.[3]
  • 1775 – Erziehungsinstitut in the Teutscher Merkur.[7]
  • 1785 – Moritz uses Institut for a training school in Anton Reiser.[7]
  • 1795 – Kinderling records the word;[7] Herder calls the universities the one kind of German Institut honoured abroad.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An institute: an establishment for research, teaching or education, often part of a Universität: Er arbeitet am Institut für Meeresforschung.[8][1]
  2. A department of a university faculty.[1]
  3. The building that houses such an institute: Das Institut liegt am Stadtrand.[8]
  4. (law) A legal institution created by law, such as marriage or property: das Institut des Eigentums.[8][9]

Word family

  • Institution
  • Geldinstitut
  • Statut
  • instituieren

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 447
  3. ^ a b c d Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 395
  5. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  6. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  7. ^ a b c d e f Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
  8. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag