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

Etymology

Origin of settlement

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

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 settlement would commit the agency to funding the grants through their remaining terms, including eligible extensions, as long as recipients meet their grant requirements.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

The bulk of the settlement concerns the law’s requirement that drivers are paid for time spent on the app between deliveries, known as “on-call time.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

A federal judge declined Thursday to rule immediately on a proposed settlement between Paramount Skydance and 12 state attorneys general, leaving the last major legal hurdle to the studio’s $111-billion acquisition of Warner Bros.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

"Guyana has always advanced a peaceful settlement of the controversy in relation to our border with Venezuela," he said.

From Barron's

“You know where we were heading, right? To the river twixt the mountains. Just follow it till you come to a settlement, okay?”

From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness

If so, plague was already capable of causing deadly outbreaks in small human communities thousands of years before the rise of cities, crowded settlements, and the flea-driven epidemics that would later make the disease infamous.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

Three accusers were paid settlements with no admission of wrongdoing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

"It's so tricky because, in principle, I agree with opposing these new settlements," Michael Cohen, who works for a Jewish charity, told the BBC.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Israeli settlements mainly export agricultural products, as well as wine, Dead Sea cosmetics and industrial products.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

“Exactly. We’ve been living in the wild or in the settlements so long. It brings back memories.”

From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner

Related Words

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