establish

American  

[ih-stab-lish] / ɪˈstæb lɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

establishes, present (3rd person singular) established, past participle, past establishing present participle

1. to found, institute, build, or bring into being on a firm or stable basis.

   to establish a university; to establish a medical practice.

   Synonyms:

   organize, form

   Antonyms:

   abolish

2. to install or settle in a position, place, business, etc..

   to establish one's child in business.

3. to show to be valid or true; prove.

   to establish the facts of the matter.

   Synonyms:

   substantiate, verify

   Antonyms:

   disprove

4. to cause to be accepted or recognized.

   to establish a custom; She established herself as a leading surgeon.

5. to bring about permanently.

   to establish order.

6. to enact, appoint, or ordain for permanence, as a law; fix unalterably.

   Synonyms:

   decree

7. to make (a church) a national or state institution.

8. Cards. to obtain control of (a suit) so that one can win all the subsequent tricks in it.

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establish British  

/ ɪˈstæblɪʃ /

verb

1. to make secure or permanent in a certain place, condition, job, etc

   to establish one's usefulness

   to establish a house

2. to create or set up (an organization, etc) on or as if on a permanent basis

   to establish a company

3. to prove correct or free from doubt; validate

   to establish a fact

4. to cause (a principle, theory, etc) to be widely or permanently accepted

   to establish a precedent

5. to give (a Church) the status of a national institution

6. (of a person) to become recognized and accepted

   he established himself as a reliable GP

7. (in works of imagination) to cause (a character, place, etc) to be credible and recognized

   the first scene established the period

8. cards to make winners of (the remaining cards of a suit) by forcing out opponents' top cards

9. (also intr) botany

   1. to cause (a plant) to grow or (of a plant) to grow in a new place

      the birch scrub has established over the past 25 years

   2. to become or cause to become a sapling or adult plant from a seedling

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Synonym Usage

See fix.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• establisher
  noun
• reestablish
  verb (used with object)
• superestablish
  verb (used with object)
• establishable
  adjective
• unestablishable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• establishing
  present
• established
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• establish
  simple
• establishes
  simple
• have established
  perfect
• has established
  perfect
• am establishing
  progressive
• are establishing
  progressive
• is establishing
  progressive
• have been establishing
  perfect progressive
• has been establishing
  perfect progressive

Past

• established
  simple
• had established
  perfect
• was establishing
  progressive
• were establishing
  progressive
• had been establishing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will establish
  simple
• will have established
  perfect
• will be establishing
  progressive
• will have been establishing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of establish

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English establissen, establishen, from Middle French establiss-, extended stem of establir, from Latin stabilīre, derivative of stabilis stable ²

Explanation

To establish something means to begin it or bring it about. If you want everyone in your family to bring you chocolate every evening, you can establish a “Chocolates for Me” policy requiring it. Establish is related to stable through its Latin roots and has many meanings, but all have the feel of building on a stable foundation. Besides the meaning of setting a policy, establish can also mean to prove one's value. You should establish yourself in a community before you try to bring change to it. Similarly, if you like to debate controversial issues, you'd best begin with facts that have been established and are not open to question. If you have a lot of money and want to build up your community, you can establish, or found, a school or library there.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

establish establishes established establishing

Nicolas Jackson is open to leaving, while Delap and Emmanuel Emegha had hoped to establish themselves under Alonso.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Admirers credit him with turning brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dior into global powerhouses and helping establish France as the dominant force in the luxury industry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

The Jim Crow Era ushered in a new kind of slavery but eventually galvanized Congress to establish some of its most impactful legislation, in the VRA and the Civil Rights Act.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

Netflix’s senior director of creative innovation, Girish Balakrishnan, outlined at the Runway AI film festival how AI was used to create soccer fans in “Brazil ’70” and establish shots for fight scenes in “Glory.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

All while he was attempting to establish a life in Budapest, and yet alienating everyone around him, Bobby was also trying to win over Zita.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

"This study establishes an important boundary for Alzheimer's disease genetics," said Matt Huentelman, PhD, professor and director in TGen's Early Detection and Prevention Division and co-senior author with Rogalski.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026

This nicely establishes what “Beneath the Surface” is about; the domestic tranquility of the foreground depends on the industrial heft that’s barely seen behind.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

It establishes the legal and governance framework for the pipeline and is widely seen as the last major political hurdle before financing and construction decisions.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Will this be the sport that establishes his athletic identity?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

The system by which the Food and Drug Administration establishes maximum permissible limits of contamination, called “tolerances,” has obvious defects.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

But modern front offices, armed with mountains of data, are increasingly comfortable constructing a roster without an established closer, instead relying on matchups to determine pitching assignments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Data returned after the flyby showed that the instruments performed as expected and matched established knowledge about Mars, while also adding several useful observations from the spacecraft's unusual viewing position.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

Both 40 years old, they grew up in the area and established themselves as community organizers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Over the weekend, an uneasy ceasefire established itself across the Persian Gulf, suggesting Signum’s theories had been borne out and validated by events.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

Similarly, America's emergence as the dominant world power in the 1940s could never have occurred if the United States had not established stable national institutions at the start that permitted the consolidation of the continent.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Among the most important came from Arvid Carlsson’s work establishing dopamine as a major neurotransmitter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

England and Manchester City both offered their condolences to the Keegan family, with the latter crediting their former manager with establishing them as a Premier League club.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Texas has marketed itself as business-friendly by using tax breaks and tort reform to attract companies and by establishing its own courts to compete with Delaware’s position as the nation’s premier corporate hub.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Crumbling cliffs loom over more than 530 miles of the California coast, and the cost of establishing a statewide sensor network would be significant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

We know that by establishing the Scythedom, we will be doing something very necessary, but we, the first scythes, still have our misgivings.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Related Words

• authorize
• base
• build
• create
• enact
• form
• found
• inaugurate
• install
• institute
• provide
• put
• settle
• start