English

Etymology
Old English setl, from Germanic *setla-, representing Indo-European *sed-lo-, from *sed- �sit�. Cognate with German Sessel, Dutch zetel; and with Greek �λλά, Latin sedo, Russian �едло. The verb (Old English setlan) developed from the noun.

Pronunciation
IPA|/�s�t�l/
s�tʹ�l, /<tt>"sEt@l</tt>/
audio|en-us-settle.ogg|Audio (US)
Rhymes: Rhymes:English:-�t�l|-�t�l

Noun
en-noun

1. archaic A seat of any kind.
2. A bench with a high back and arms.
3. obsolete A place made lower than the rest; a wide step or platform lower than some other part.

#:Quotation: And from the bottom upon the ground, even to the lower settle, shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit. --Ezek. xliii.

Verb
en-verb|settl|ing

1. transitive: To place in a fixed or permanent condition; to make firm, steady, or stable; to establish; to fix; esp., to establish in life; to fix in business, in a home, or the like.

#:Quotation: And he settled his countenance steadfastly upon him,until he was ashamed. --2 Kings VIII. 11. (Rev. Ver.)
#:Quotation: The father thought the time drew on Of setting in the world his only son. --Dryden.

1. transitive, obsolete US: To establish in the pastoral office; to ordain or install as pastor or rector of a church, society, or parish; as, to settle a minister.
2. transitive: To cause to be no longer in a disturbed condition; to render quiet; to still; to calm; to compose.

#:Quotation: God settled then the huge whale-bearing lake. --w:Chapman|Champman.
#:Quotation: Hoping that sleep might settle his brains. --Bunyan.

1. transitive: To clear of dregs and impurities by causing them to sink; to render pure or clear; -- said of a liquid; as, to settle coffee, or the grounds of coffee.
2. transitive: To restore or bring to a smooth, dry, or passable condition; -- said of the ground, of roads, and the like;as, clear weather settles the roads.
3. transitive: To cause to sink; to lower; to depress; hence, also, torender close or compact; as, to settle the contents of a barrel or bag by shaking it.
4. transitive: To determine, as something which is exposed to doubt or question; to free from uncertainty or wavering; to make sure, firm, or constant; to establish; to compose; to quiet; as, to settle the mind when agitated; to settle questions of law; to settle the succession to a throne; to settle an allowance.

#:Quotation: It will settle the wavering, and confirm the doubtful. --Swift.

1. transitive: To adjust, as something in discussion; to make up; to compose; to pacify; as, to settle a quarrel.
2. transitive, archaic: To adjust, as accounts; to liquidate; to balance; as, to settle an account.
3. transitive, colloquial: To pay; as, to settle a bill. --Abbott.
4. transitive: To plant with inhabitants; to colonize; to people; as, the French first settled Canada; the Puritans settled New England; Plymouth was settled in 1620.
5. intransitive: To become fixed or permanent; to become stationary; to establish one's self or itself; to assume a lasting form, condition, direction, or the like, in place of a temporary or changing state.

#:Quotation: The wind came about and settled in the west. --w:Bacon|Bacon.
#:Quotation: Chyle . . . runs through all the intermediate colors until it settles in an intense red. --Arbuthnot.

1. intransitive: To fix one's residence; to establish a dwelling place or home; as, the Saxons who settled in Britain.
2. intransitive: To enter into the married state, or the state of a householder.

#:Quotation: As people marry now and settle. --Prior.

1. intransitive: To be established in an employment or profession; as, to settle in the practice of law.
2. intransitive: To become firm, dry, and hard, as the ground after the effects of rain or frost have disappeared; as, the roads settled late in the spring.
3. intransitive: To become clear after being turbid or obscure; to clarify by depositing matter held in suspension; as, the weather settled; wine settles by standing.

#:Quotation: A government, on such occasions, is always thick before it settles. --Addison.

1. intransitive: To sink to the bottom; to fall to the bottom, as dregs of a liquid, or the sediment of a reservoir.
2. intransitive: To sink gradually to a lower level; to subside, as the foundation of a house, etc.
3. intransitive: To become calm; to cease from agitation.

#:Quotation: Till the fury of his highness settle, Come not before him. --Shak.

1. intransitive: To adjust differences or accounts; to come to an agreement; as, he has settled with his creditors.
2. intransitive, obsolete: To make a jointure for a wife.

#:Quotation: He sighs with most success that settles well. --Garth.

Synonyms
adjust
arrange
compose
decide
determine
establish
fix
regulate

Derived terms
settle bed (UK a bed convertible into a seat)
settle on or upon archaic to confer upon by permanent grant; to assure to. I . . . have settled upon him a good annuity. --Addison.
settle the land obsolete nautical to cause it to sink, or appear lower, by receding from it.

Related terms
settlement
settler

webster

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• 2007-12-13 22:18 - Dbfirs - /* Verb */

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