Other forms: settled, settling, settles
To settle is to end a disagreement, or to make a place your permanent home. Settle an argument, settle out of court, settle in a village.
It also means to come to rest — dust settles, a bird settles on a branch, let the mixture settle — and to become calm: the children settled after ten minutes. And it means to pay: settle a bill, settle up. Note settle in, which means to get used to a new place or job, and settle for, which means to accept something less than you wanted, and always carries a little disappointment with it.
1verbresolveTo end an argument or a dispute.
“They settled it without going to court.”
synonyms: resolve, conclude
2verbsettleTo make a place your permanent home.
“They settled in the north after the war.”
3verbrestTo come to rest, or to become calm.
“Wait for the dust to settle before you go in.”
4verbpayTo pay what is owed.
“He settled the bill on the way out.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
settle is a way of coming to rest or agreement.
To settle is to take a seat. Old English setl was a seat or a place to sit, from the root sed that gives sit and seat, so settling an argument is getting everyone to sit down.
From a merger of two verbs:
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA