Es*tab"lish (?), v. t. [imp. &
p. p. Established (?); p. pr. & vb.
n. Establishing.] [OE. establissen, OF.
establir, F. établir, 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.