settle

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈset.əl/, US /ˈset̬.əl/^[1]

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English setlen, inherited from Old English setlan (“to place in a fixed position, to seat”),^[2][3][4] from setl (“a seat”),^[3][2] which also gave the noun settle, a bench.^[3][4] Old English setl is from Proto-Germanic *setlą, which also gave Dutch zetel, German Sessel and Gothic sitls,^[3][2][4] from PIE *sedla-, from the root Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”);^[2] it is related to Latin sella “seat, saddle”, to saddle and to sit.^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun setl, a seat, position or abode, is in Beowulf about 725;^[3] the verb, to seat or put in a place of rest, is from about 1000.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

To come to rest after flying, of birds, is from before 1300,^[3][2] and of ground, to sink, from the early 14th century.^[2] Of liquids, to become clear as sediment sinks, is from the early 15th century.^[2] A person's becoming calm is from the 1520s,^[2] to decide or fix on something from 1621,^[3][2] and to make one's home, especially in a new country, from 1627, with to colonize by 1702.^[3][2] To secure property by deed is from the 1660s,^[2] and to resolve a dispute by agreement developed from the 16th century;^[4] Etymonline suggests that this sense merged with Middle English sahtlen “to reconcile”, from Old Norse.^[2] Settle down, of a married couple, is by 1835.^[2] The noun settle, a long wooden bench with a high back, is from 1553.^[6][2] Settlement is from 1626, a colony from 1697.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 725 – setl, a seat.^[3]
• c. 1000 – to seat.^[6]
• before 1300 – to come to rest.^[3]
• 1553 – a settle, a bench.^[6]
• 1621 – to decide.^[3]
• 1627 – to make a home.^[3]
• 1702 – to colonize.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To come to rest, or to put in a comfortable or steady position.
2. To resolve a dispute or decide a question.
3. To pay a bill or debt.
4. To make a home in a place; to colonize.
5. To become or make calm: to settle one's nerves.
6. To sink, or to clear by the sinking of particles.
7. (settle down) To adopt a quieter, more regular life.

Noun

1. A long wooden bench with a high back and arms.

Word family

• settleable
• settleability
• settledness
• presettle
• settee
• unsettle
• settlor
• resettle

Related words

• settlement
• settler
• saddle
• sit
• sedentary

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 f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press