sett

Etymology

A variant of set to distinguish various technical senses.

noun

1. The system of tunnels that is the home of a badger.
   But it is quite sad to reflect that some 4,500 badger setts were already wiped out using poisoned gas between 1975 and 1982. When you consider that an average sett can contain up to 15 animals, parents and cubs, it is easy to imagine the scale of suffering involved. 2006, David Kavanagh, A Country Pillow Book, page 69
2. The pattern of distinctive threads and yarns that make up the plaid of a Scottish tartan.
   The Vestiarium gave setts for Lowland houses as well as Highland clans[…]and many families within the clans have their own setts to add to the clan tartans.[…]The clans and families are branching out with Dress and Hunting tartans, and the same sett—any sett—may be produced in dark "modern," lighter "ancient" or "muted" color schemes. 2012, J. Charles Thompson, “Introduction”, in James Grant, Scottish Tartans in Full Color
3. (weaving) The number of warp ends per inch in the cloth.
4. (weaving, England) The number of reeds or splits per inch – one half the number of ends per inch.
5. A small, square-cut piece of quarried stone used for paving and edging.
   Very durable grey granite has been quarried near Aberdeen for more than 300 years, and blocked and dressed paving "setts," kerb and building stones, and monumental and other ornamental work of granite have long been exported from the district to all parts of the world. 1911, “Aberdeen”, in Hugh Chisholm, editor, The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information, 11th edition, volume I, Cambridge, Mass., New York, N.Y.: At the University Press, →OCLC, page 49
   Three horses trotted abreast, with the clatter of hoofs on the granite setts, and the yellow, uproarious machine jolted violently behind them, […] 1912, Joseph Conrad, chapter 7, in A Personal Record, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Bros. Publishers, →OCLC
   The old market-square was not very large, a mere bare patch of granite setts, usually with a few fruit-stalls under a wall. 1920, D[avid] H[erbert Richards] Lawrence, chapter 26, in Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed for subscribers only, →OCLC
   This path, which consists of some 60,000 setts laid directly into the earth, is perhaps the single most noteworthy 'feature' of the design, lending the whole conception a feeling of unity and coherence, enhancing the sense that one has been absorbed into both the place and the journey through it. 16 November 2013, Tim Richardson, “The JFK memorial at Runnymede is fit to stand forever: Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe's wonderful tribute to JFK at Runnymede hinges on the power of landscape [print edition: A memorial to JFK fit to stand forever]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), archived from the original on 2015-07-03, page G8

verb

1. Obsolete spelling of set (particularly as a simple past and past participle)