Establishes

How to spell establishes

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce establishes

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does establishes mean?

1. verbSets something up firmly or brings it into being, or proves a fact to be true.

Establishes in a sentence

• The new contract establishes clear deadlines for every department.

• The report establishes that the figures were accurate after all.

Where does establishes come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the third person singular form of the verb 'establish', which entered English in the late 1300s from the Old French 'establir', meaning 'to set up' or 'to make firm'. The French word descended from the Latin 'stabilire', 'to make stable', which was built on 'stabilis', meaning 'firm' or 'steady', itself rooted in the verb 'stare', 'to stand'. The same 'stare' family gives us familiar relatives such as 'stable', 'station', and 'stability', all carrying the underlying idea of something fixed and standing firm. The early 's' at the start of the French and Latin forms is the reason English speakers once wrote 'stablish', and the modern spelling kept an opening 'e' from the French while folding the older 's' into the middle of the word. The trap for writers today is the unstressed middle and the soft '-sh-' that runs into '-es', so the unstressed 'a' and the final '-shes' are easy to garble.

How the word is built

• e- (from Latin ex-, related stem)
• stabl- (from stabilis: stable, firm)
• -ish (verb-forming suffix via French)
• -es (third person singular)