settlement

American  

[set-l-muhnt] / ˈsɛt l mənt /

noun

• settlements
  plural

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 of property, title, etc., upon a person.

    3. the property so settled.

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.

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settlement British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• settlements
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of settlement

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

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Explanation

A settlement is a colony or any small community of people. If a bunch of people build houses on the moon together, they’ll have the first lunar settlement. A settlement is also the resolution of something such as a lawsuit. One kind of settlement is a place where people live. This can be a community that's smaller than a town, like a village. Also, if one country establishes a colony somewhere else, that can be called a settlement. The other kind of settlement happens when something is settled, like the end of a disagreement. A lawsuit is ended if there's a settlement — both parties make an agreement that often involves money. A settlement brings closure and resolution.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

settlement settlements

The combined evidence indicates that 'Ubeidiya dates back at least 1.9 million years, significantly changing the timeline of early human settlement beyond Africa.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026

She says the payment she received was for redundancy back pay and settlement for personal injury caused by the process.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

Under a settlement earlier this month, AID Coalition agreed not to organize additional flights and said it would let airlines set the price of tickets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

“I think about settlement agreements the same way I think about buying shoes,” she says.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026

“It was over by Maxwell Street. Victor was living at a settlement house there. Before he died, he went back to the old ways, yarmulke and all.”

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

It said most workers would also be barred from settlements from Sunday, with the exception of industrial zones and a limited number of other areas.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

John and Laura Overdeck have been engaged in a monthslong trial that could produce one of the largest divorce settlements in history.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

But she doubted whether a different future prime minister would ultimately question settlements themselves.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

The university had long spent more than it brought in, driven by rising athletics costs, pandemic expenses and major legal settlements.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

I didn’t find any human settlements, but I did find more islands, though none even a third the size of my home island.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

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Related Words

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

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