institutionalise

IPA/ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən.ə.laɪz/
IPA/ˌɪn.stəˈtuː.ʃən.ə.laɪz/

institutionalise — verb

  • institutionalisepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • institutionalises3rd person singular
  • institutionalising-ing form
  • institutionalisedpast simple

1. to turn an idea, habit, or unfair pattern into an accepted part of how an organi

1.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to turn an idea, habit, or unfair pattern into an accepted part of how an organization or society works

Example

The school institutionalised weekly reading time in every class by September.

institutionalise + practice in an organization

Years of emergency rule institutionalised fear inside the local government.

Common collocations
  • institutionalise discrimination
  • institutionalise a practice
  • institutionalise reform
  • institutionalise a routine
Synonyms
  • formalise

    stresses making something official on paper or by rule

  • embed

    focuses on building something into daily practice, often less formally

  • entrench

    usually suggests a negative pattern becoming hard to remove

  • normalize

    means making something seem usual, even without formal structure

Antonyms
  • dismantle

    used when an established system or practice is taken apart

Grammar Patterns

institutionalise + practice

institutionalise + noun + in + organization

Usage Note

Usually takes a policy, routine, or social pattern as its object. Often used for something that becomes normal inside a system, sometimes with a negative idea such as fear, bias, or corruption.

Common Mistakes

The judge institutionalised the new safety rule.
The hospital institutionalised the new safety rule.
In this sense, the object is a practice and the subject is usually the institution that makes it standard.

2. to place someone in a hospital, care home, or similar place because living indep

2.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

to place someone in a hospital, care home, or similar place because living independently is no longer safe or possible

Example

Doctors institutionalised Otis after he could no longer dress himself.

institutionalise + person needing full-time care

The court institutionalised Jenna when her illness made home life unsafe.

Common collocations
  • institutionalise a patient
  • institutionalise a child
  • be institutionalised
  • institutionalise for long-term care
Synonyms
  • hospitalize

    narrower because it usually means sending someone to hospital for treatment

  • commit

    more formal and often used in legal or psychiatric contexts

  • admit

    focuses on being officially accepted into a hospital or home

  • place

    a broader everyday verb that lacks the specialist care meaning

Antonyms
  • discharge

    used when someone is allowed to leave hospital or residential care

Grammar Patterns

institutionalise + person

be institutionalised + in + institution

Usage Note

Common in legal, medical, and social-care contexts, often in the passive voice. Distinguish from sense 1: here the object is a person who is moved into long-term care, not a rule or practice.

Common Mistakes

The council institutionalised cashless payment last year.
The council institutionalised cashless payment in all offices last year.
Policies and habits belong to sense 1, not the care-home sense.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

For sense 1, institutionalise means making a practice part of the normal machinery of a group or society. Formalise is narrower: it stresses writing a rule down or giving it official approval, but a rule can be formalised without becoming part of everyday behavior. Embed is less official and focuses on working an idea into daily routines. Entrench usually has a negative tone and suggests the pattern becomes difficult to remove. Normalize is broader still: it means making something seem ordinary or acceptable, even if no formal structure changes. A clinic can formalise a safety rule on paper, embed it through training, and eventually institutionalise it across every ward; prejudice is more often entrenched than merely formalised.

institutionalise ↗formalise ↗embed ↗entrench ↗normalize ↗

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Institutionalise is built from institution and the verb-forming ending -ise. Institution came into English through Old French from Latin roots meaning to set up or establish. The verb first referred to placing someone in institutional care and later broadened to the abstract idea of making a practice part of an established system.