establish
verbAU, CA, US, UK /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/ · UK, SC /ɪˈstab.lɪʃ/
Etymology Inherited from Middle English establissen, from Old French establiss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of establir (modern French établir), from Latin stabiliō, stabilīre, from stabilis (“firm, steady, stable”).
1
To make stable or firm; to confirm.
- Once it [a snowdrop variety] became established, some bulbs were lifted and passed on to be chipped (i.e. cut into small pieces and grown on).2015 February 7, Val Bourne, “The quiet man of the world of snowdrops”, in The Daily Telegraph (London), page G8:
2
To form; to found; to institute; to set up in business.
- But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 6:18:
3
To appoint or adopt, as officers, laws, regulations, guidelines, etc.; to enact; to ordain.
- By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.1921, Ben Travers, chapter 4, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
4
To prove and cause to be accepted as true; to demonstrate.
- to establish a fact
- to establish a pattern
- Derived terms
- disestablish, establishable, established church, establisher, establishing shot, establishment, long-established, preestablish, reestablish, re-establish, unestablish
- Related terms
- stable