es ‧ tab ‧ lish S2 W1 AC /ɪˈstæblɪʃ/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Word Family: verb : ↑ establish ; noun : ↑ establishment ; adjective : ↑ established ]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: establir , from Latin stabilire 'to make firm' ]
1 . to start a company, organization, system, etc that is intended to exist or continue for a long time SYN found :
The city of Boerne was established by German settlers in the 1840s.
Our goal is to establish a new research centre in the North.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say set up or start a company or organization, rather than use establish :
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The company was set up in 1976.
2 . to begin a relationship with someone or a situation that will continue
establish relations/links/contact etc (with somebody)
Hungary established diplomatic relations with Chile in 1990.
I wondered why he should bother to try and establish contact with me.
3 . to find out facts that will prove that something is true:
The police must establish the facts of the case before proceeding.
establish that
The autopsy established that he had been murdered.
establish whether/if
I was never able to establish whether she was telling the truth.
4 . to make people accept that you can do something, or that you have a particular quality
establish yourself (as/in)
He had three years in which to establish himself as Prime Minister.
He’d already begun to establish quite a reputation as a journalist.
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THESAURUS
▪ establish to start a company or organization, especially one that exists for a long time:
The company was established in 1899.
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He established a new research centre in Dublin.
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Most of the money will be used to establish local industries and mobilize the work-force.
▪ set up to start a new company or organization. Set up is less formal than establish , and is the usual phrase to use in everyday English:
Kate and her partner are setting up their own printing business.
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Dad set up as a builder in 1990 and now he employs over twenty men.
▪ open to start a business that provides services to the public, such as a shop, restaurant, or hotel:
He opened his first restaurant in 1995.
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They just opened a new supermarket on Van Nuys Boulevard.
▪ found to start a company or an organization such as a school or a hospital, especially by providing the money for it – used about something that was started a long time ago:
Who originally founded the college?
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The bank was founded 60 years ago in Munich.
▪ inaugurate /ɪˈnɔːɡjəreɪt, ɪˈnɔːɡjʊreɪt $ -ˈnɒː-/ formal to start an organization with an official ceremony:
Twenty years after the airport was inaugurated, it introduced its first transatlantic flights.