mental institution vs asylum

mental institution and asylum both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
mental institution	Yes	No	No	No
asylum	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, mental institution and asylum are synonyms defined as:

mental institution and asylum: a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person

Other synonyms of mental institution include insane asylum, institution, mental home, mental hospital, psychiatric hospital.

mental institution (noun)	asylum (noun)
a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person	a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person
	a shelter from danger or hardship