establish

[ ih-stab-lish ]

/ ɪˈstæb lɪʃ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR establish ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to found, institute, build, or bring into being on a firm or stable basis: to establish a university; to establish a medical practice.

to install or settle in a position, place, business, etc.: to establish one's child in business.

to show to be valid or true; prove: to establish the facts of the matter.

to cause to be accepted or recognized: to establish a custom; She established herself as a leading surgeon.

to bring about permanently: to establish order.

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

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

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

Words nearby establish

essonite, essonne, est, est., estab., establish, established church, establishment, establishmentarian, estafette, estaing, d'

Origin of establish

1325–75; Middle English establissen < Middle French establiss-, extended stem of establir < Latin stabilīre, akin to stabilis stable²

SYNONYMS FOR establish

1 form, organize. See fix.

3 verify, substantiate.

6 decree.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR establish ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR establish

1 abolish.

3 disprove.

SEE ANTONYMS FOR establish ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM establish

es·tab·lish·a·ble, adjectivees·tab·lish·er, nounqua·si-es·tab·lished, adjectivere·es·tab·lish, verb (used with object)

su·per·es·tab·lish, verb (used with object)un·es·tab·lish·a·ble, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for establishing

Lennon casually told some DC friends about it and found there was local interest in establishing Dinner Parties.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone|Samantha Levine|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
These online communities are establishing familial bonds between strangers.
‘We Out Here’: Inside the New Black Travel Movement|Charlise Ferguson|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Pulling them together is not about establishing a team of rivals, but a team of enemies.
Arab Kings vs. ISIS Barbarians|Christopher Dickey|September 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Dodge has also had something like 20 museum shows and is intent on establishing a museum that would also show his 225 posters.
Pryor Dodge's Two-Wheeled Obsession Is Now a Museum of Bike History|Anthony Haden-Guest|September 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Soon it became clear that establishing a Caliphate was their objective.
Watching ISIS Come to Power Again|Elliot Ackerman|September 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Even then it simply corrected some of the abuses of the old system, by establishing what was called “Master of the Postes.”
Foot-prints of a letter carrier|James Rees
As for the Spanish inquisition, there was not, and there never had been, any intention of establishing it in the Netherlands.
The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Volume III.(of III) 1574-84|John Lothrop Motley
The surest way of establishing peace on earth was to make the way of the peacebreaker too hard for rulers to tread.
The Annual Register 1914|Anonymous
My meeting did good in giving me the idea of establishing a succession of alibis.
The Sixth Sense|Stephen McKenna
If man were living wholly a life of instinct, he might trust instinct as a guide in establishing his family.
Ethics|John Dewey and James Hayden Tufts

British Dictionary definitions for establishing

establish

/ (ɪˈstæblɪʃ) /

verb (usually tr)

to make secure or permanent in a certain place, condition, job, etcto establish one's usefulness; to establish a house

to create or set up (an organization, etc) on or as if on a permanent basisto establish a company

to prove correct or free from doubt; validateto establish a fact

to cause (a principle, theory, etc) to be widely or permanently acceptedto establish a precedent

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

(of a person) to become recognized and acceptedhe established himself as a reliable GP

(in works of imagination) to cause (a character, place, etc) to be credible and recognizedthe first scene established the period

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

(also intr) botany

to cause (a plant) to grow or (of a plant) to grow in a new placethe birch scrub has established over the past 25 years
to become or cause to become a sapling or adult plant from a seedling

Derived forms of establish

establisher, noun

Word Origin for establish

C14: from Old French establir, from Latin stabilīre to make firm, from stabilis stable ²

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012