/set"l meuhnt/ , n.
1. the act or state of settling or the state of being settled.
2. the act of making stable or putting on a permanent basis.
3. a state of stability or permanence.
4. an arrangement or adjustment, as of business affairs or a disagreement.
5. an agreement signed after labor negotiations between union and management.
6. the terms reached in this agreement.
7. the settling of persons in a new country or place.
8. a colony, esp. in its early stages.
9. a small community, village, or group of houses in a thinly populated area.
10. a community formed and populated by members of a particular religious or ideological group: a Shaker settlement.
11. the satisfying of a claim or demand; a coming to terms.
12. Law.
a. final disposition of an estate or the like.
b. the settling of property, title, etc., upon a person.
c. the property so settled.
13. Brit.
a. legal residence in a specific place.
b. (of a pauper) the right to claim food and shelter from an official agency or specific town or district.
14. Also called settlement house . Social Work. an establishment in an underprivileged area providing social services to local residents.
15. a subsidence or sinking of all or part of a structure.
[ 1620-30; SETTLE 1 + -MENT ]