Institutional

How to spell institutional

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce institutional

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does institutional mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to a large organisation or to its established structures, rules, and routines.

Institutional in a sentence

• The report criticised institutional failures within the hospital trust.

• Deep institutional change is needed before staff will trust management again.

Where does institutional come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb statuere, which literally meant 'to set up' or 'to establish', itself built on stare, 'to stand'. From statuere came the Latin noun institutio, meaning an arrangement, a practice, or the setting in place of a custom or organisation. English took 'institution' through Old French and Latin in the late Middle Ages, and the adjective 'institutional' was formed in English by the early 1800s when writers needed a word for things relating to established organisations. The 'stitu' core, the part meaning 'to stand or set up', is the same element hiding inside 'constitution', 'substitute' and 'statute', which can help anchor the tricky middle of the spelling. The main trap is the unstressed vowels: the 'tu' and the '-tion-al' ending must be remembered carefully even though the syllables blur in speech.

How the word is built

• in- (in, into)
• statu/stitu (from statuere: to set up, establish)
• -tion (noun-forming)
• -al (adjective suffix)