Settling

How to spell settling

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce settling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does settling mean?

1. verbResolving something, coming to rest, or establishing oneself somewhere, as a continuing action.

Settling in a sentence

• They spent the weekend settling into their new flat.

• The lawyers are settling the dispute out of court.

Where does settling come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the present participle of the verb 'settle', which descends from the Old English setlan, meaning 'to seat, to place, or to bring to rest'. That verb was built on the noun setl, an old word for a seat or place to sit, the same root that survives in the modern word 'settle' meaning a long wooden bench. Over the centuries the meaning branched out in useful directions: from physically placing something down came the senses of taking up permanent residence in a place, of sediment sinking and coming to rest at the bottom of a liquid, of calming a disturbance, and of paying off a debt or resolving a dispute. The doubled 't' in the spelling reflects the short, sharp vowel of the first syllable, and the silent-feeling 'le' that becomes 'l' before the ending is the trap that occasionally trips writers when they add -ing.

How the word is built

• settl- (from Old English setlan: to seat, place, bring to rest)
• -ing (present participle / gerund suffix)