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]
2.
a community of people smaller than a town [syn: village]
3.
a conclusive resolution of a matter and disposition of it
4.
the act of colonizing; the establishment of colonies; "the British colonization of America" [syn: colonization]
5.
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"
6.
an area where a group of families live together
7.
termination of a business operation by using its assets to discharge its liabilities [syn: liquidation]
The transfer of the security (for the seller) or cash (for the buyer) in order to complete a security transaction. See also delayed settlement, early settlement.
Main Entry: set·tle·ment Function: noun 1: the act or process of settling 2 a: an agreement reducing or resolving differences;
especially: an agreement between litigants that concludes the litigation <the states finally agreed upon a settlement and a consent decree —W. J. Brennan, Junior>
<entered into a property settlement prior to the divorce> b: a formal and permanent grant or conveyance c: the sum, estate, or income granted or paid under a
settlement <if the monetary limits of a defendant's insurance policy can be discovered in order to obtain reasonable settlements —J. H. Friedenthal et al.> 3:CLOSING <settlement costs> 4: the transfer of funds between a payor bank and a collecting
bank in order to complete transactions for customers
White Settlement, TX (city, FIPS 78544) Location: 32.75475 N, 97.46023 W Population (1990): 15472 (6167 housing units) Area: 12.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 76108
Combee Settlement, FL (CDP, FIPS 13775) Location: 28.05796 N, 81.90555 W Population (1990): 5463 (2551 housing units) Area: 5.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
French Settlement, LA (village, FIPS 27435) Location: 30.31146 N, 90.80330 W Population (1990): 829 (359 housing units) Area: 7.0 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Set"tle*ment\, n. 1. The act of setting, or the state of being settled. Specifically: (a) Establishment in life, in business, condition, etc.; ordination or installation as pastor. Every man living has a design in his head upon wealth power, or settlement in the world. --L'Estrange. (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. (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. (d) Bestowal, or giving possession, under legal sanction; the act of giving or conferring anything in a formal and permanent manner. My flocks, my fields, my woods, my pastures take, With settlement as good as law can make. --Dryden. (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. 2. That which settles, or is settled, established, or fixed. Specifically: (a) Matter that subsides; settlings; sediment; lees; dregs. [Obs.] Fuller's earth left a thick settlement. --Mortimer. (b) A colony newly established; a place or region newly settled; as, settlement in the West. (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. 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. 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. 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.