Instal

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To fix a device, program or piece of equipment in a place so that it is ready for use ; to formally induct a person into a public office, rank or position
2. Setting up machinery or software so it can operate ; swearing someone into a post or high position in a ceremony
3. Putting equipment or an application in place and ready to run ; officially establishing a person in a role, office or dignity

Etymology: The verb "instal" is simply the older spelling of "install," and the two share a history that begins with a horse's stall. Medieval Latin "installare" combined "in-" with "stallum," meaning "stall," which came from a Frankish word for a place or position, ultimately tracing back to a Proto-Germanic word meaning "place, position." To install someone was, quite literally, to put them in a place, a stall-like position of standing or office. The word reached English from Old French "installer," which was itself borrowed from Medieval Latin, and it carried that sense of formally establishing someone in a role. The clearest link to the modern meaning comes from German and Dutch relatives. German "einstellen" can mean "to set" or "to adjust," and Dutch "instellen" means "to set up" or "to establish," so the idea of placing something into a fixed position survives in the way we now set up a program on a computer.