establish

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/, /esˈtæb.lɪʃ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English establissen, borrowed from Old French pos=stem establiss-,^[2][3][4] from Latin stabilīre (“to make stable”), from stabilis “firm, stable”.^[2][3][5] The shorter form stablish is earlier.^[5][6] It is related to stable.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To fix, settle or ordain permanently: about 1374 in the OED, about 1380 in Chaucer's Boethius according to Barnhart, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[7][3][2]

Semantic evolution

To set up on a secure basis, to found a government or institution, is from about 1460.^[7][5] To install someone securely in a position is from 1557.^[7][5] To prove something valid is from the 18th century.^[5] An established church is one sanctioned by the state.^[2] Establishment is from 1481, the Establishment for the state church from 1731, and for the ruling groups of a country in the 20th century.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – to settle permanently.^[7]
• c. 1460 – to found.^[7]
• 1557 – to install.^[7]
• 18th century – to prove.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To set up an organization or system; to found.
2. To settle someone or something securely in a position.
3. To prove that something is true.
4. To cause something to be accepted or recognized.
5. To make a church the official church of a country.

Word family

• establisher
• establishable
• disestablish
• establishment
• preestablish
• reestablish
• established church
• establishing shot

Related words

• stable
• stablish

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press