Emily Dickinson Lexicon

IN'STI-GA-TING-LY, adv.

Incitingly; temptingly.

IN-STI-GA'TION, n.

1. Incitement, as to evil or wickedness; the act of encouraging to commit a crime or some evil act.
2. Temptation; impulse to evil; as, the instigation of the devil.

IN'STI-GA-TOR, n.

1. One who incites another to an evil act; a tempter.
2. That which incites; that which moves persons to commit wickedness.

IN-STILL', v.t. [L. instillo; in and stillo, to drop.]

1. To infuse by drops. Milton.
2. To infuse slowly, or by small quantities; as, to instill good principles into the mind.

IN-STIL-LA'TION, n. [L. instillatio.]

1. The act of infusing by drops or by small quantities.
2. The act of infusing slowly into the mind.
3. That which is instilled or infused.

IN-STILL'ED, pp.

Infused by drops or by slow degrees.

IN-STILL'ER, n.

He that instills.

IN-STILL'ING, ppr.

Infusing by drops or by slow degrees. Shak.

IN-STILL'MENT, n.

Any thing instilled. Shak.

IN-STIM'U-LATE, v.t.

To stimulate; to excite. [Not used.]

IN-STIM'U-LA-TED, pp.

Excited.

IN-STIM'U-LA-TING, ppr.

Not stimulating; not exciting vital powers. Cheyne.

IN-STIM-U-LA'TION, n. [in and stimulation.]

The act of stimulating, inciting or urging forward.

IN-STINCT', a. [L. instinctus. See the noun.]

Moved; animated; excited; as, instinct with spirit. Milton. Betulia – instinct with life. Faber.

IN'STINCT, n. [Fr.; It. instinto, istinto; Sp. and Port. instinto; from L. instinctus, inwardly moved; in and stinguo, Gr. στιζω, στιγω. See Distinguish, Extinguish. The sense of the root is to thrust; hence the compound, instinctus, signifies properly, thrust in, infixed. See Instigate.]

A certain power or disposition of mind by which, independent of all instruction or experience, without deliberation and without having any end an view, animals are unerringly directed to do spontaneously whatever is necessary for the preservation of the individual, or the continuation of the kind. Such, in the human species, is the instinct of sucking exerted immediately after birth, and that of insects in depositing their eggs in situations most favorable for hatching. Encyc. Instinct may be defined, the operation of the principle of organized life by the exercise of certain natural powers directed to the present or future good of the individual. Instinct is the general property of the living principle, or the law of organized life in a state of action. Good. And reason raise o'er instinct as you can, / In this 'tis God's directs, in that 'tis man. Pope.

IN-STINCT'ED, a.

Impressed; as an animating power. [Little used.] Bentley.

IN-STINC'TION, n.

Instinct. [Not in use.] Elyot.

IN-STINCT'IVE, a.

Prompted by instinct; spontaneous; acting without reasoning, deliberation, instruction or experience; determined by natural impulse or propensity. The propensity of bees to form hexagonal cells for holding their honey and their young, must be instinctive.

IN-STINCT'IVE-LY, adv.

By force of instinct; without reasoning, instruction or experience; by natural impulse.

IN'STI-TUTE, n. [L. institutum; Fr. institut.]

1. Established law; settled order.
2. Precept; maxim; principle. To make the Stoic institutes thy own. Dryden.
3. A book of elements or principles; particularly a work containing the principles of the Roman law. Encyc.
4. In Scots law, when a number of persons in succession hold an estate in tail, the first is called the institute, the others substitutes. Encyc.

IN'STI-TUTE, v.t. [L. instituo; in and statuo, to set.]

1. To establish; to appoint; to enact; to form and prescribe; as, to institute laws; to institute rules and regulations.
2. To found; to originate and establish; as, to institute a new order of nobility; to institute a court.
3. To ground or establish in principles; to educate; to instruct; as, to institute children in the principles of a science.
4. To begin; to commence; to set in operation; as, to institute an inquiry; to institute a suit.
5. To invest with the spiritual part of a benefice or the care of souls. Blackstone.

IN'STI-TU-TED, pp.

Established; appointed; founded; enacted; invested with the care of souls.

IN'STI-TU-TING, ppr.

Establishing; founding; enacting; investing with the care of souls.

IN-STI-TU'TION, n. [Fr. from L. institutio.]

1. The act of establishing.
2. Establishment; that which is appointed, prescribed or founded by authority, and intended to be permanent. Thus we speak of the institutions of Moses or Lycurgus. We apply the word institution to laws, rites, and ceremonies, which are enjoined by authority as permanent rules of conduct or of government.
3. A system, plan or society established, either by law or by the authority of individuals for promoting any object, public or social. We call a college or an academy, a literary institution; a Bible society, a benevolent or charitable institution; a banking company and an insurance company are commercial institutions.
4. A system of the elements or rules of any art or science. Encyc.
5. Education; instruction. His learning was not the effect of precept or institution. Bentley.
6. The act or ceremony of investing a clerk with the spiritual part of a benefice, by which the care of souls is committed to his charge. Blackstone.

IN-STI-TU'TION-AL, a.

1. Enjoined; instituted by authority. Etym. Vocabulary.
2. Elementary.