Learn English – “Institution” and “facility”

expressionsword-choice

Do you use institution for a university building?

There are three institutions in this campus.

According to Longman Dictionary, an institution is "a large building where old people, ORPHANs, prisoners, people who are mentally ill etc. live and are taken care of by an official organization."

Given this definition, you cannot use this word for the university. I'm not sure which word I should use without using building.

Best Answer

An institution does not refer to a physical structure but rather to an organization, establishment, foundation or society. Any of these may have buildings but the buildings are not the institution itself. You could refer to the building as a structure or in some cases it may be appropriate to refer to them as offices or dormitories. A number of buildings can be referred to as a complex.