'Settlement' definitions:

Definition of 'settlement'

(from WordNet)
noun
A body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government; "the American colony in Paris" [syn: colony, settlement]
noun
A community of people smaller than a town [syn: village, small town, settlement]
noun
A conclusive resolution of a matter and disposition of it
noun
The act of colonizing; the establishment of colonies; "the British colonization of America" [syn: colonization, colonisation, settlement]
noun
Something settled or resolved; the outcome of decision making; "they finally reached a settlement with the union"; "they never did achieve a final resolution of their differences"; "he needed to grieve before he could achieve a sense of closure" [syn: settlement, resolution, closure]
noun
An area where a group of families live together
noun
Termination of a business operation by using its assets to discharge its liabilities [syn: liquidation, settlement]

Definition of 'Settlement'

From: GCIDE
  • Settlement \Set"tle*ment\, n.
  • 1. The act of setting, or the state of being settled. Specifically: [1913 Webster] (a) Establishment in life, in business, condition, etc.; ordination or installation as pastor. [1913 Webster]
  • Every man living has a design in his head upon wealth power, or settlement in the world. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster] (b) The act of peopling, or state of being peopled; act of planting, as a colony; colonization; occupation by settlers; as, the settlement of a new country. [1913 Webster] (c) The act or process of adjusting or determining; composure of doubts or differences; pacification; liquidation of accounts; arrangement; adjustment; as, settlement of a controversy, of accounts, etc. [1913 Webster] (d) Bestowal, or giving possession, under legal sanction; the act of giving or conferring anything in a formal and permanent manner. [1913 Webster]
  • My flocks, my fields, my woods, my pastures take, With settlement as good as law can make. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] (e) (Law) A disposition of property for the benefit of some person or persons, usually through the medium of trustees, and for the benefit of a wife, children, or other relatives; jointure granted to a wife, or the act of granting it. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. That which settles, or is settled, established, or fixed. Specifically: [1913 Webster] (a) Matter that subsides; settlings; sediment; lees; dregs. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Fuller's earth left a thick settlement. --Mortimer. [1913 Webster] (b) A colony newly established; a place or region newly settled; as, settlement in the West. [1913 Webster] (c) That which is bestowed formally and permanently; the sum secured to a person; especially, a jointure made to a woman at her marriage; also, in the United States, a sum of money or other property formerly granted to a pastor in additional to his salary. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. (Arch.) (a) The gradual sinking of a building, whether by the yielding of the ground under the foundation, or by the compression of the joints or the material. (b) pl. Fractures or dislocations caused by settlement. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. (Law) A settled place of abode; residence; a right growing out of residence; legal residence or establishment of a person in a particular parish or town, which entitles him to maintenance if a pauper, and subjects the parish or town to his support. --Blackstone. Bouvier. [1913 Webster]
  • Act of settlement (Eng. Hist.), the statute of 12 and 13 William III, by which the crown was limited to the present reigning house (the house of Hanover). --Blackstone. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'settlement'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Settlement'