c.1374, from O.Fr. establiss-, stem of establir, from L. stabilire "make stable," from stabilis "stable" (see stable (2)). Establishment used 1731 with sense of "established Church;" meaning of "ruling people and institutions" is from 1923.
set up or found; "She set up a literacy program" [ant: abolish]
2.
set up or lay the groundwork for; "establish a new department"
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] [ant: confute]
4.
institute, enact, or establish; "make laws" [syn: lay down]
5.
bring about; "The trompe l'oeil-illusion establishes depth"
6.
place; "Her manager had set her up at the Ritz" [syn: install]
7.
build or establish something abstract; "build a reputation" [syn: build]
8.
use as a basis for; found on; "base a claim on some observation"
Main Entry: es·tab·lish Function: transitive verb 1: to institute (as a law) permanently by enactment or agreement <we the people of the United
States…do ordain and establish this Constitution —U.S. Constitution preamble> 2: to make firm or stable 3: to bring into existence
:FOUND <Congress shall have power…to establish post offices and post roads —U.S. Constitution
article I>; specifically: to found (a national bank) pursuant to a charter 4: to make (a church) a national or state institution —see also ESTABLISHMENT, ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE 5: to put beyond doubt :PROVE 6: to place in a position of being accepted or followed
<a rule established by case law>
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.
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