settle

Definition of settle

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɛtəl/, sĕtʹəl, /"sEt@l/
• Audio (US) ^[?]
• Rhymes: -ɛtəl

Noun

settle (plural settles)

1. (archaic) A seat of any kind.
2. A long bench, often with a high back and arms, with storage space underneath for linen.
3. (obsolete) A place made lower than the rest; a wide step or platform lower than some other part.
   
   And from the bottom upon the ground, even to the lower settle, shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit. --Ezek. xliii.
   
   

Verb

to settle (third-person singular simple present settles, present participle settling, simple past and past participle settled)

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.
   
   And he settled his countenance steadfastly upon him,until he was ashamed. --2 Kings VIII. 11. (Rev. Ver.)
   
   * 1700, Ovid, Metamorphoses, translation of original by John Dryden:
   The father thought the time drew on Of settling in the world his only son.
   
   
2. (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.
3. (transitive) To cause to be no longer in a disturbed condition; to render quiet; to still; to calm; to compose.
   
   * God settled then the huge whale-bearing lake. --George Chapman.
   * Hoping that sleep might settle his brains. -- John Bunyan.
   
   
4. (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.
5. (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.
6. (transitive) To cause to sink; to lower; to depress; hence, also, to render close or compact; as, to settle the contents of a barrel or bag by shaking it.
7. (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.
   
   It will settle the wavering, and confirm the doubtful. --Jonathan Swift.
   
   
8. (transitive) To adjust, as something in discussion; to make up; to compose; to pacify; as, to settle a quarrel.
9. (transitive, archaic) To adjust, as accounts; to liquidate; to balance; as, to settle an account.
10. (transitive, colloquial) To pay; as, to settle a bill. --Abbott.
11. (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.
12. (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.
    
    * The wind came about and settled in the west. --Bacon.
    * Chyle . . . runs through all the intermediate colors until it settles in an intense red. --John Arbuthnot.
    
    
13. (intransitive) To fix one's residence; to establish a dwelling place or home; as, the Saxons who settled in Britain.
14. (intransitive) To enter into the married state, or the state of a householder.
    
    * As people marry now and settle. --Matthew Prior.
    
    
15. (intransitive) To be established in an employment or profession; as, to settle in the practice of law.
16. (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.
17. (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.
    
    * A government, on such occasions, is always thick before it settles. --Joseph Addison.
    
    
18. (intransitive) To sink to the bottom; to fall to the bottom, as dregs of a liquid, or the sediment of a reservoir.
19. (intransitive) To sink gradually to a lower level; to subside, as the foundation of a house, etc.
20. (intransitive) To become calm; to cease from agitation.
    
    * Till the fury of his highness settle, Come not before him. --Shakespeare
    
    
21. (intransitive) To adjust differences or accounts; to come to an agreement; as, he has settled with his creditors.
22. (intransitive, obsolete) To make a jointure for a wife.
    
    He sighs with most success that settles well. -- Samuel Garth.

Synonyms

• adjust
• arrange
• compose
• decide
• determine
• establish
• fix
• regulate

Antonyms

• disturb
• agitate
• wander

Derived terms

• settle bed ((British) 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. --Joseph Addison.
• settle the land (obsolete) (nautical) to cause it to sink, or appear lower, by receding from it.
• settle upon
• settle for
• settle on
• settle in
• settle down

Related terms

• settlement
• settler