settlement

/ˈsɛdlmənt/

/ˈsɛtəlmənt/

Other forms: settlements

A settlement is a colony or any small community of people. If a bunch of people build houses on the moon together, they’ll have the first lunar settlement. A settlement is also the resolution of something such as a lawsuit.

One kind of settlement is a place where people live. This can be a community that's smaller than a town, like a village. Also, if one country establishes a colony somewhere else, that can be called a settlement. The other kind of settlement happens when something is settled, like the end of a disagreement. A lawsuit is ended if there's a settlement — both parties make an agreement that often involves money. A settlement brings closure and resolution.

Definitions of settlement

1. noun

   the act of colonizing; the establishment of colonies
   synonyms: colonisation, colonization

   types:

   population

   the act of populating (causing to live in a place)

   type of:

   constitution, establishment, formation, organisation, organization

   the act of forming or establishing something
2. noun

   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
   synonyms: colony

   examples:

   Demerara

   a former Dutch colony in South America; now a part of Guyana

   Rock of Gibraltar

   location of a colony of the United Kingdom on a limestone promontory at the southern tip of Spain; strategically important because it can control the entrance of ships into the Mediterranean; one of the Pillars of Hercules

   Plymouth Colony

   colony formed by the Pilgrims when they arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620; it was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691

   New Amsterdam

   a settlement established by the Dutch near the mouth of Hudson River and the southern end of Manhattan Island; annexed by the English in 1664 and renamed New York

   types:

   frontier settlement, outpost

   a settlement on the frontier of civilization

   Plantation

   a newly established colony (especially in the colonization of North America)

   proprietary colony

   a colony given to a proprietor to govern (in 17th century)

   type of:

   body

   a group of persons associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity
3. noun

   a community of people smaller than a town
   synonyms: small town, village

   types:

   moshav

   a cooperative Israeli village or settlement comprised of small farms

   type of:

   community

   a group of people living in a particular local area
4. noun

   an area where a group of families live together
   types:

   hamlet, village

   a settlement smaller than a town

   campong, kampong

   a native village in Malaysia

   kraal

   a village of huts for native Africans in southern Africa; usually surrounded by a stockade

   pueblo

   a communal village built by Native Americans in the southwestern United States

   type of:

   geographic area, geographic region, geographical area, geographical region

   a demarcated area of the Earth
5. noun

   something settled or resolved; the outcome of decision making
   “they finally reached a settlement with the union”

   synonyms: closure, resolution

   type of:

   deciding, decision making

   the cognitive process of reaching a decision
6. noun

   a conclusive resolution of a matter and disposition of it
   types:

   accommodation

   a settlement of differences

   conclusion

   a final settlement

   out-of-court settlement

   resolution of a dispute prior to the rendering of a final decision by the trial court

   property settlement

   (matrimonial law) the division of property owned or acquired by marriage partners during their marriage

   accord and satisfaction

   the settlement of a debt by paying less than the amount demanded in exchange for extinguishing the debt

   modus vivendi

   a temporary accommodation of a disagreement between parties pending a permanent settlement

   compromise

   an accommodation in which both sides make concessions

   type of:

   agreement, understanding

   the statement (oral or written) of an exchange of promises
7. noun

   termination of a business operation by using its assets to discharge its liabilities
   synonyms: liquidation

   types:

   viatical settlement, viaticus settlement

   sale of an insurance policy by a terminally ill policy holder

   type of:

   conclusion, ending, termination

   the act of ending something