noun
Etymology
Origin of settler
Explanation
A settler is a person who moves to a new place with the intention to stay there. Colonial America was built by settlers who came mainly from England. Settlers often think of themselves as being the first people to live in an area, although through history settlers moved to places already inhabited by native people. A settler's primary goal is to set up a home — claim land, build houses, and establish new towns with other settlers. The noun settler originally meant "thing that settles," though by the 1690s it was used to mean "person moving to a new country," from the Old English word setlan, "cause to place."
Vocabulary lists containing settler
The United States
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Canada - Introductory
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Canada - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Leiter is Israel's ambassador to the United States and a longtime ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and is well-versed in Israeli settler politics, conservative activism and hard-edged diplomacy.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
Amichai Luria, a long-time settler from Ma'ale Levona and manager of a winery in the nearby settlement of Shiloh, told me the current focus on settler violence was overblown.
From BBC • Nov. 14, 2025
Tuesday’s incident elicited rare public rebukes by Israeli military leaders and the head of the main settler association, the Yesha Council.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025
"This coin sums up the turning point between the frightening Vikings who are attacking us, and the settler Vikings who actually are us in a strange way."
From BBC • Nov. 12, 2025
During the war for settler independence from Britain, the Ulster Scots were in the forefront of the struggle and formed the backbone of George Washington’s fighting forces.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
