Etymology

Noun

1. A seat of any kind.
2. A long bench, often with a high back and arms, with storage space underneath for linen.
3. 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

1. 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.)
2. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. To adjust, as something in discussion; to make up; to compose; to pacify; as, to settle a quarrel.
9. To adjust, as accounts; to liquidate; to balance; as, to settle an account.
10. To pay; as, to settle a bill. --Abbott.
11. 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. 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. To fix one's residence; to establish a dwelling place or home; as, the Saxons who settled in Britain.
14. To enter into the married state, or the state of a householder.
    • As people marry now and settle. --Matthew Prior.
15. To be established in an employment or profession; as, to settle in the practice of law.
16. 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. 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. To sink to the bottom; to fall to the bottom, as dregs of a liquid, or the sediment of a reservoir.
19. To sink gradually to a lower level; to subside, as the foundation of a house, etc.
20. To become calm; to cease from agitation.
    • Till the fury of his highness settle, Come not before him. --Shakespeare
21. To adjust differences or accounts; to come to an agreement; as, he has settled with his creditors.
22. 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