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.
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So were the churches established in the faith.
--Acts xvi. 5.
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The best established tempers can scarcely forbear
being borne down. --Burke.
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Confidence which must precede union could be
established only by consummate prudence and
self-control. --Bancroft.
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2. To appoint or constitute for permanence, as officers,
laws, regulations, etc.; to enact; to ordain.
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By the consent of all, we were established
The people's magistrates. --Shak.
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Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the
writing, that it be not changed. --Dan. vi. 8.
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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.
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He hath established it [the earth], he created it
not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited. --Is.
xlv. 18.
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Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and
establisheth a city by iniquity! --Hab. ii. 12.
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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.
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At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of
three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
--Deut. xix.
15.
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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.
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