settle

Etymology 1

From a merger of two verbs: * Middle English setlen, from Old English setlan (“to settle, seat, put to rest”), from Old English setl (“seat”) (compare Dutch zetelen (“to be established, settle”)) and * Middle English sahtlen, seihtlen (“to reconcile, calm, subside”), from Old English sahtlian, ġesehtlian (“to reconcile”), from Old English saht, seht (“settlement, agreement, reconciliation, peace”) (see saught, -le). German siedeln (“to settle”) is related to the former of the two verbs, but is not an immediate cognate of either of them.

verb

1. To conclude or resolve (something):
   1. (transitive) To determine (something which was exposed to doubt or question); to resolve conclusively; to set or fix (a time, an order of succession, etc).
      His fears were settled
      She hopes to settle and questions about the plans.
      The question of the succession to a throne needs to be settled.
   2. (transitive) To conclude, to cause (a dispute) to finish.
      to settle a quarrel
      1. (transitive) In particular, to terminate (a lawsuit), usually out of court, by agreement of all parties.
   3. (transitive) To close, liquidate or balance (an account) by payment, sometimes of less than is owed or due.
      The coffee was only surface wet and looked worse than it actually was and as he returned to the Reception Desk to settle his account and give back his room key, he was met again by the young man who was still wearing his rucksack. 2012, Paul Kelly, Willie Blair: A Tale of True Loss and Sadness
   4. (transitive, colloquial) To pay (a bill).
      to settle a bill
   5. (intransitive) To adjust differences or accounts; to come to an agreement on matters in dispute.
      He has settled with his creditors.
   6. (intransitive) To conclude a lawsuit by agreement of the parties rather than a decision of a court.
      Of course, certainty is a value in all systems of conflict of laws—including those of the United States. Certainty for litigants decreases litigation and transaction costs and increases the chances that cases will settle. 2010, Clay H. Kaminsky, “The Rome II Regulation: A Comparative Perspective on Federalizing Choice of Law”, in Tulane Law Review, volume 85, number 1, page 79
2. (transitive) To place or arrange in(to) a desired (especially: calm) state, or make final disposition of (something).
   1. (transitive) To put into (proper) place; to make sit or lie properly.
      She twisted out from under the claim of his palm to settle her feet on the floor. 2012, Nancy Gideon, Seeker of Shadows
      Pausing only to settle his cloak and set his Regent's circlet on his hair, he strode to the rail and waited. 2002, Tom Deitz, Warautumn, page 53
   2. (transitive) To cause to no longer be in a disturbed, confused or stormy; to quiet; to calm (nerves, waters, a boisterous or rebellious child, etc).
   3. (Britain, dialectal) To silence, especially by force.
   4. To kill.
      I poured a charge of powder over the nipple so as not tu miss goin' off if possible. Click! went the match,—up jumped the flock, or tried tu. As they bunched up, Peggy blazed intu 'em, settlin’ how many I didn't know, … 1894-5, Patterson, Man and Nature (in The Primitive Methodist Magazine)
   5. (transitive) To bring or restore (ground, roads, etc) to a smooth, dry, or passable condition.
      clear weather settles the roads
3. (intransitive) To become calm, quiet, or orderly; to stop being agitated.
   With Vardy working tirelessly up front, chasing lost causes and generally making a nuisance of himself, Sevilla were never allowed to settle on a night when the atmosphere was electric inside the King Power Stadium. March 14, 2017, Stuart James, “Leicester stun Sevilla to reach last eight after Kasper Schmeichel save”, in the Guardian
   The weather settled.
   Wait until the crowd settles before speaking.
   1. (intransitive) To become firm, dry, and hard, like the ground after the effects of rain or frost have disappeared.
      The roads settled late in the spring.
4. To establish or become established in a steady position:
   1. (transitive) To place in(to) a fixed or permanent condition or position or on(to) a permanent basis; to make firm, steady, or stable; to establish or fix.
   2. (transitive) In particular, to establish in life; to fix in business, in a home, etc.
      1. (transitive, US, obsolete) In particular, to establish in pastoral office; to ordain or install as pastor or rector of a church, society, or parish.
         to settle a minister
   3. (transitive, law) To formally, legally secure (an annuity, property, title, etc) on (a person).
   4. (intransitive, obsolete) To make a jointure for a spouse.
      He sighs with most success that settles well. 1712, Samuel Garth, Epilogue to Cato, a Tragedy, by Joseph Addison
   5. (intransitive) To become married, or a householder.
   6. (intransitive, with "in") To be established in a profession or in employment.
      He is settled in the profession of law at Rochester, New York. 1825, William Buell Sprague, An Historical Discourse Delivered at West Springfield
      Following his avowed aim to settle in his profession of medicine, Sloane arranged to call on Dr Thomas Sydenham, the foremost physician of his day in London, known as 'the English Hippocrates'. 1994, Arthur MacGregor, Sir Hans Sloane
      The likely explanation for this is the fact that between the two groups one is now settling in the profession while the older group is preparing to retire and are no longer keen to gain new skills. 2016, J. K. Ng’eno, M. C. Chesimet, “Differences in Mathematics Teachers' Perceived Preparedness to Demonstrate Competence in Secondary School Mathematics Content by Teacher Characteristics”, in Journal of Education and Practice, volume 7, number 18
   7. (intransitive, usually with "down", "in", "on" or another preposition) To become stationary or fixed; to come to rest.
      Chyle … runs through all the intermediate colors until it settles in an intense red. 1735, John Arbuthnot, An essay concerning the nature of aliments
      They settled down at an inn.
      The hawk settled on a branch.
5. (intransitive) To fix one's residence in a place; to establish a dwelling place, home, or colony. (Compare settle down.)
   the Saxons who settled in Britain
   1. (transitive, in particular) To colonize (an area); to migrate to (a land, territory, site, etc).
      the French first settled Canada
      the Puritans settled New England
      Plymouth was settled in 1620.
6. (transitive) To move (people) to (a land or territory), so as to colonize it; to cause (people) to take residence in (a place).
   Rome began to settle displaced or disenfranchised citizens, veterans, and allies in colonies beyond Italy. 2001, Eric Nelson, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Roman Empire
7. To sink, or cause (something, or impurities within it) to sink down, especially so as to become clear or compact.
   1. (transitive) To clear or purify (a liquid) of dregs and impurities by causing them to sink.
      to settle coffee, or the grounds of coffee
   2. (transitive) To cause to sink down or to be deposited (dregs, sediment, etc).
      to settle the sediment out of the water
   3. (transitive) To render compact or solid; to cause to become packed down.
      to settle the chips in the potato chip bag by shaking it
   4. (intransitive) To sink to the bottom of a body of liquid, as dregs of a liquid, or the sediment of a reservoir.
   5. (intransitive) To sink gradually to a lower level; to subside, for example the foundation of a house, etc.
      Sometimes a tub will settle at one corner, causing the rim to slope. 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, page 38
   6. (intransitive) To become compact due to sinking.
      The chips in the bag of potato chips settled during shipping.
   7. (intransitive) To become clear due to the sinking of sediment. (Used especially of liquid. also used figuratively.)
      wine settles by standing
8. (transitive, intransitive) Of an animal: to make or become pregnant.
   Some mares do not show signs of being in heat even when tried ("teased") regularly with a stallion, but they often can be settled either by natural or artificial service, provided the approximate time of ovulation is determined and they are not suffering from either a diseased or abnormal condition of the reproductive system. 1926, Farmers' Bulletin, numbers 801-825
   During March, 1926, two more mares were bred to him and on February 14, 1927 one of them foaled a perfectly formed bay stud foal. It is not known whether or not the other mare settled for she was never returned for trial. 1928, The Journal of Heredity, volume 19, page 415
   This older mare created many, many problems for us in terms of trying to get the mare to settle. She came to us in January, and her record shows fairly consistent heats, but she had numerous problems which will be outlined in Example l0. 1977, Stud Managers’ Handbook, volume 13, page 153
   Those sperm may still be viable, enabling the stallion to settle mares for a while until he runs out of mature sperm and has no more coming on because of the gap in production while he was sick or injured. 2010, Heather Smith Thomas, Storey’s Guide to Raising Horses, 2nd edition
   However, even a stallion with low volume, poor-quality semen, if properly managed, can adequately settle mares. 2012, Cherry Hill, Cherry Hill’s Horsekeeping Almanac
   There are several kinds of hormones available that may help your mare to settle properly in case she is difficult to get in foal. 2017, Jacob (Jack) Moorman, Living Legend

Etymology 2

From Middle English settle, setle, setel, setil, seotel, from Old English setl (“that upon which one sits, a seat, a settle, a place to sit”), from Proto-Germanic *setlaz (“a seat; arm-chair”), representing Proto-Indo-European *sed-lo-, from *sed- (“sit”). Cognate with Dutch zetel, German Sessel, Latin sella.

noun

1. (archaic) A seat of any kind.
   sit on a settle of joy with angels c. 1348, Richard Rolle, The Form of Living
   If hunger drive the Pagans from their dens, One, 'gainst a settle breaketh both his shins; 1608, Joshua Sylvester, “The Law”, in Du Bartas his divine weekes and workes
   [The] Queen or eorl's wife, with a train of maidens, bore ale-bowl or mead-bowl round the hall, from the high settle of king or ealdorman in the midst to the mead benches ranged around its walls, while the gleeman sang the hero-songs 1878–1880, John Richard Green, A History of the English People
2. (now rare) A long bench with a high back and arms, often with chest or storage space underneath.
   Let us return now to the little girl we left feigning to sleep soundly upon a settle in the kitchen. 1880, Ellen Murray Beam, English translation of Captain Fracasse by Théophile Gautier
   By the fireside, the big arm-chair […] fondly cronied with two venerable settles within the chimney corner. 1886, John Williamson Palmer, After His Kind
3. (obsolete) A place made lower than the rest; a wide step or platform lower than some other part. (Compare a depression.)