2 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
established
adj 1: brought about or set up or accepted; especially long
established; "the established social order"; "distrust
the constituted authority"; "a team established as a
member of a major league"; "enjoyed his prestige as an
established writer"; "an established precedent"; "the
established Church" [syn: {constituted}] [ant: {unestablished}]
2: securely established; "an established reputation"; "holds a
firm position as the country's leading poet" [syn: {firm}]
3: settled securely and unconditionally; "that smoking causes
health problems is an accomplished fact" [syn: {accomplished},
{effected}]
4: shown to be valid beyond a reasonable doubt; "the
established facts in the case"
5: conforming with accepted standards; "a conventional view of
the world" [syn: {conventional}]
6: introduced from another region and persisting without
cultivation [syn: {naturalized}]