Word of the Day

: March 15, 2012

instauration

noun in-staw-RAY-shun

What It Means

1 : restoration after decay, lapse, or dilapidation

2 : an act of instituting or establishing something

instauration in Context

"Once, humanity dreamed of the great instauration - a rebirth of ancient wisdom that would compel us into a New Age...." - From an article by Knute Berger in the Seattle Weekly, December 14, 2005

"The Thibaut/Savigny conflict, the conflict between two leading professors, led to the instauration of the two law commissions, again composed of professors, which finally paved the way for the adoption of the German Civil Code, some fifty years later." - From an introduction by Hans-W. Micklitz to the 2011 book The Many Concepts of Social Justice in European Private Law

Did You Know?

"Instauration" first appeared in English in the early 17th century, a product of the Latin verb "instaurare," meaning "to renew or restore." This same source gave us our verb "store," by way of Middle English and Anglo-French. Less than 20 years after "instauration" broke into English, the philosopher Francis Bacon began writing his Instauratio Magna, which translates to The Great Instauration. This uncompleted collection of works, which was written in Latin, calls for a restoration to a state of paradise on earth, but one in which mankind is enlightened by knowledge and truth.