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establish - 5 dictionary results

es⋅tab⋅lish

  [i-stab-lish]
Use establish in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to found, institute, build, or bring into being on a firm or stable basis: to establish a university; to establish a medical practice.
2. to install or settle in a position, place, business, etc.: to establish one's child in business.
3. to show to be valid or true; prove: to establish the facts of the matter.
4. to cause to be accepted or recognized: to establish a custom; She established herself as a leading surgeon.
5. to bring about permanently: to establish order.
6. to enact, appoint, or ordain for permanence, as a law; fix unalterably.
7. to make (a church) a national or state institution.
8. Cards. to obtain control of (a suit) so that one can win all the subsequent tricks in it.
Origin:
1325–75; ME establissen < MF establiss-, extended s. of establir < L stabilīre, akin to stabilis stable 2

Related forms:
es⋅tab⋅lish⋅a⋅ble, adjective
es⋅tab⋅lish⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. form, organize. See fix. 3. verify, substantiate. 6. decree.

Antonyms:
1. abolish. 3. disprove.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To establish
es·tab·lish   (ĭ-stāb'lĭsh)   
tr.v.   es·tab·lished, es·tab·lish·ing, es·tab·lish·es
    1. To set up; found. See Synonyms at found1.
    2. To bring about; generate: establish goodwill in the neighborhood.
    3. To place or settle in a secure position or condition; install: They established me in my own business.
    4. To make firm or secure.
    1. To place or settle in a secure position or condition; install: They established me in my own business.
    2. To make firm or secure.
  3. To cause to be recognized and accepted: a discovery that established his reputation.
  4. To introduce and put (a law, for example) into force.
  5. To prove the validity or truth of: The defense attorneys established the innocence of the accused.
  6. To make a state institution of (a church).

[Middle English establishen, from Old French establir, establiss-, from Latin stabilīre, from stabilis, firm; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]
es·tab'lish·er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : establish
Spanish: establecer(se),
German: sich niederlassen,
Japanese: (地位に) つかせる
More Translations »

establish 
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: es·tab·lish
Function: transitive verb
1 : to institute (as a law) permanently by enactment or agreement establish this Constitution —U.S. Constitution preamble>
2 : to make firm or stable
3 : to bring into existence : FOUND 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 established by case law>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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