Origin: Latin suffix -al
Institutional has 3 different meanings across 1 category:
Of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or organized along the lines of an institution.
"The hospital's new policy shifted from a family-centered approach to a more institutional model where visitors were strictly limited by shift changes."
In plain English: Institutional means something that belongs to or is run by an official organization like a school or government agency.
"The new institutional library opened its doors to the entire university community today."
Usage: Use institutional when describing something that has the formal, impersonal nature of large organizations like schools or hospitals. Avoid using it to mean simply "established" or "traditional," as those are better covered by words like established or conventional.
The word institutional comes from the noun institution with the addition of the suffix -al. It entered English to describe anything related to an established organization or practice.