noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Canada - Introductory
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Canada - Middle School and High School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
The number of settler attacks has risen each year since 2023, according to the United Nations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
This road past their fields, increasingly overlooked by settler outposts, has become a gauntlet for farmers here, to be run at speed in vehicles without stopping or getting out.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Twice when we drove along it, we saw an Israeli settler sitting in the empty fields.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Four leaders of settler organisations and 21 "violent settlers" had also been barred, he added.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
You will read more about the US history of settler colonialism, white supremacy, slavery, genocide, and land theft in later chapters.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
He told me how, as a boy, he watched Kadim being built for the first time, then watched again as the settlers there were forced out by the government twenty years later.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Some of the first soldiers to arrive at the scene were even filmed praying with the settlers.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Louai Abu Ridi owns one of the three houses in Qusra, near Nablus, which settlers began besieging more than a week ago, trapping residents inside and effectively blocking supplies, generating condemnation around the world.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
Also on Friday, a number of settlers returned to set up a tent near the site - a day after an operation to disperse them from the area.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Even settlers like Hale who formed close ties to the Osage argued that the white man’s road was inevitable and that the only way for the Osage to survive was to follow it.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
