settlement

[set-l-muhnt]

noun

1. the act or state of settling or the state of being settled.

2. the act of making stable or putting on a permanent basis.

3. a state of stability or permanence.

4. an arrangement or adjustment, as of business affairs or a disagreement.

5. an agreement signed after labor negotiations between union and management.

6. the terms reached in this agreement.

7. the settling of persons in a new country or place.

8. a colony, especially in its early stages.

9. a small community, village, or group of houses in a thinly populated area.

10. a community formed and populated by members of a particular religious or ideological group.

    a Shaker settlement.

11. the satisfying of a claim or demand; a coming to terms.

12. Law.

    1. final disposition of an estate or the like.

    2. the settling settle settling of property, title, etc., upon a person.

    3. the property so settled. settle.

13. British.

    1. legal residence in a specific place.

    2. (of a pauper) the right to claim food and shelter from an official agency or specific town or district.

14. Also called settlement house. Social Work.,  an establishment in an underprivileged area providing social services to local residents.

15. a subsidence or sinking of all or part of a structure.

settlement

/ ˈsɛtəlmənt /

noun

1. the act or state of settling or being settled

2. the establishment of a new region; colonization

3. a place newly settled; colony

4. a collection of dwellings forming a community, esp on a frontier

5. a community formed by members of a group, esp of a religious sect

6. a public building used to provide educational and general welfare facilities for persons living in deprived areas

7. a subsidence of all or part of a structure

8. 1. the payment of an outstanding account, invoice, charge, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      settlement day

9. an adjustment or agreement reached in matters of finance, business, etc

10. law

    1. a conveyance, usually to trustees, of property to be enjoyed by several persons in succession

    2. the deed or other instrument conveying such property

    3. the determination of a dispute, etc, by mutual agreement without resorting to legal proceedings

Other Word Forms

• nonsettlement noun
• oversettlement noun
• presettlement noun
• resettlement noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of settlement¹

First recorded in 1620–30; settle ¹ + -ment

Example Sentences

Anything left over would go toward the growing expenses of college sports—including the national office’s portion of a massive antitrust settlement.

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Each loved nature and beauty and harmony, suffered grievously under American settlement and finally succeeded by being true to its heritage.

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But weeks have gone by without a settlement coming to fruition.

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Summers has welcomed some of the administration’s prior settlements with universities and said in the Thursday post that he believes “America’s elite universities have lost their way.”

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Christian pop star Amy Grant and her family will regain control of the downtown Nashville church founded by her great-grandfather, according to a settlement approved by a Tennessee state court on Wednesday.

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Related Words

• agreement 
• arrangement 
• compensation 
• contract 
• deal 
• establishment 
• payment 
• resolution