Adjacent Words

Establish definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ESTAB'LISH, v.t. [L. stabilio; Heb. to set, fix, establish.]
1. To set and fix firmly or unalterably; to settle permanently.
I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant. Genesis 17.
2. To found permanently; to erect and fix or settle; as, to establish a colony or an empire.
3. To enact or decree by authority and for permanence; to ordain; to appoint; as, to establish laws, regulations, institutions, rules, ordinances, etc.
4. To settle or fix; to confirm; as, to establish a person, society or corporation, in possessions or privileges.
5. To make firm; to confirm; to ratify what has been previously set or made.
Do we then make void the law through faith?
God forbid; yea, we establish the law. Romans 3.
6. To settle or fix what is wavering, doubtful or weak; to confirm.
So were the churches established in the faith. Acts 16.
To the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in
holiness. l Thess.3.
7. To confirm; to fulfill; to make good.
Establish thy word to thy servant. Psalms 119
8. To set up in the place of another and confirm.
Who go about to establish their own righteousness. Romans 10.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: set up or found; "She set up a literacy program" [syn: establish, set up, found, launch] [ant: abolish, get rid of]
2: set up or lay the groundwork for; "establish a new department" [syn: establish, found, plant, constitute, institute]
3: establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment; "The experiment demonstrated the instability of the compound"; "The mathematician showed the validity of the conjecture" [syn: prove, demonstrate, establish, show, shew] [ant: confute, disprove]
4: institute, enact, or establish; "make laws" [syn: lay down, establish, make]
5: bring about; "The trompe l'oeil-illusion establishes depth" [syn: establish, give]
6: place; "Her manager had set her up at the Ritz" [syn: install, instal, set up, establish]
7: build or establish something abstract; "build a reputation" [syn: build, establish]
8: use as a basis for; found on; "base a claim on some observation" [syn: establish, base, ground, found]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Etymology: Middle English establissen, from Anglo-French establiss-, stem of establir, from Latin stabilire, from stabilis stable Date: 14th century 1. to institute (as a law) permanently by enactment or agreement 2. obsolete settle 7 3. a. to make firm or stable b. to introduce and cause to grow and multiply <establish grass on pasturelands> 4. a. to bring into existence ; found <established a republic> b. bring about, effect <established friendly relations> 5. a. to put on a firm basis ; set up <establish his son in business> b. to put into a favorable position c. to gain full recognition or acceptance of <the role established her as a star> 6. to make (a church) a national or state institution 7. to put beyond doubt ; prove <established my innocence> • establishable adjective • establisher noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 set up or consolidate (a business, system, etc.) on a permanent basis. 2 (foll. by in) settle (a person or oneself) in some capacity. 3 (esp. as established adj.) achieve permanent acceptance for (a custom, belief, practice, institution, etc.). 4 validate; place beyond dispute (a fact etc.). Phrases and idioms: Established Church the Church recognized by the State as the national Church. Derivatives: establisher n. Etymology: ME f. OF establir (stem establiss-) f. L stabilire f. stabilis STABLE(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Establish Es*tab"lish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Established; p. pr. & vb. n. Establishing.] [OE. establissen, OF. establir, F. ['e]tablir, fr. L. stabilire, fr. stabilis firm, steady, stable. See Stable, a., -ish, and cf. Stablish.] 1. To make stable or firm; to fix immovably or firmly; to set (a thing) in a place and make it stable there; to settle; to confirm. So were the churches established in the faith. --Acts xvi. 5. The best established tempers can scarcely forbear being borne down. --Burke. Confidence which must precede union could be established only by consummate prudence and self-control. --Bancroft. 2. To appoint or constitute for permanence, as officers, laws, regulations, etc.; to enact; to ordain. By the consent of all, we were established The people's magistrates. --Shak. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed. --Dan. vi. 8. 3. To originate and secure the permanent existence of; to found; to institute; to create and regulate; -- said of a colony, a state, or other institutions. He hath established it [the earth], he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited. --Is. xlv. 18. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity! --Hab. ii. 12. 4. To secure public recognition in favor of; to prove and cause to be accepted as true; as, to establish a fact, usage, principle, opinion, doctrine, etc. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. --Deut. xix. 15. 5. To set up in business; to place advantageously in a fixed condition; -- used reflexively; as, he established himself in a place; the enemy established themselves in the citadel.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(establishes, establishing, established) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If someone establishes something such as an organization, a type of activity, or a set of rules, they create it or introduce it in such a way that it is likely to last for a long time. The UN has established detailed criteria for who should be allowed to vote... The School was established in 1989 by an Italian professor. = set up, found VERB: V n, V n 2. If you establish contact with someone, you start to have contact with them. You can also say that two people, groups, or countries establish contact. (FORMAL) We had already established contact with the museum... Singapore and South Africa have established diplomatic relations. V-RECIP: V n with n, pl-n V 3. If you establish that something is true, you discover facts that show that it is definitely true. (FORMAL) Medical tests established that she was not their own child... It will be essential to establish how the money is being spent... An autopsy was being done to establish the cause of death... It was established that the missile had landed on a test range in Australia. = ascertain VERB: V that, V wh, V n, it be V-ed that • established That link is an established medical fact. ADJ: usu ADJ n 4. If you establish yourself, your reputation, or a good quality that you have, you succeed in doing something, and achieve respect or a secure position as a result of this. This is going to be the show where up-and-coming comedians will establish themselves... He has established himself as a pivotal figure in US politics... We shall fight to establish our innocence. VERB: V pron-refl, V pron-refl as n, V n, also V n as n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Fix, settle, make stable or steadfast. 2. Enact, decree, ordain. 3. Institute, originate, plant, found, constitute, organize, form. 4. Place, secure, plant, set up. 5. Confirm, ratify, sanction, approve. 6. Prove, substantiate, verify, make good. 7. Fulfil, carry out, make good. 8. Unite with the State, make authoritative, publicly endow.

Moby Thesaurus

acclimate, acclimatize, accommodate, accustom, adapt, adjust, advertise, affirm, afford proof of, ascertain, assure, authenticate, author, authorize, back up, ballyhoo, bark, base, bear, bed, beget, begin, bill, boost, break, break in, breed, bring about, bring forth, bring home to, bring to effect, bring to pass, bring up, broach, build, build in, build up, bulletin, case harden, cause, certify, christen, cinch, circularize, clear up, clinch, conceive, condition, confirm, constitute, corroborate, create, cry up, decide, declare lawful, decree, deep-dye, define, demonstrate, determine, dismiss all doubt, do, domesticate, domesticize, effect, effectuate, embed, enact, engender, engraft, engrave, ensconce, ensure, entrench, etch, familiarize, father, find out, fix, float, follow, follow from, form, formulate, found, generate, gentle, gestate, get at, give a write-up, give birth to, give occasion to, give origin to, give publicity, give rise to, ground, habituate, harden, have a case, hold good, hold water, housebreak, impact, implant, impress, imprint, inaugurate, incept, inculcate, induct, infix, ingrain, initiate, inscribe, install, instill, institute, insure, introduce, inure, invest, jam, launch, lay, lay the foundation, legalize, legislate, legitimate, legitimatize, legitimize, lift up, locate, lodge, make, make a regulation, make certain, make good, make legal, make no doubt, make no mistake, make out, make sure, make sure of, materialize, moor, nail down, naturalize, occasion, ordain, organize, orient, orientate, originate, pack, pitch, placard, place, plant, plug, post, post bills, post up, prescribe, press-agent, print, produce, promote, prove, prove to be, prove true, publicize, puff, put, put in, put in force, put up, raise, realize, reassure, regulate, remove all doubt, ring in, rivet, root, sanction, season, seat, secure, see that, see to it, sell, set, set afloat, set agoing, set at rest, set down, set in, set on foot, set up, settle, settle the matter, show, sire, sort out, spiel, stamp, start, start going, start up, station, stereotype, stick, substantiate, support, tame, train, turn on, usher in, validate, verify, vest, wedge, wont, work, write up