establishment
Pluralestablishments
- 1A business, organization, or place that has been set up to last.
Like a shop built to stay open for many years.
They opened a new establishment downtown last spring.
The bakery is a small, family-run establishment near the station.
Similarbusiness, institution, enterprise, firm, concern
- 2The act of setting something up or making it official.
Like the day a new club officially opens and becomes real.
The establishment of the new school took almost two years.
Everyone celebrated the establishment of the peace treaty.
Similarfounding, foundation, creation, formation, institution
Oppositeabolition, dissolution
Note
- 3The group of powerful people who control a society and want to keep things as they are.
Like the group of bosses who make the big decisions and don't want anyone else to change them.
Young people often feel the establishment ignores their concerns.
The establishment resisted any change to the old rules.
Similarsystem, elite, authorities
Note
- 4The condition of being firmly set up and lasting.
Like a tree whose roots have grown so deep it cannot be moved.
By then the rules had reached full establishment and felt permanent.
The long establishment of the routine made any change feel wrong.
Similarentrenchment, permanence, stability
- 5The number of staff needed to run a department or service.
Like the full set of workers a shop needs to open every day.
The hospital is short of nurses and well below its full establishment.
Each ward has an establishment of twelve staff.
Similarcomplement, headcount, staffing
Note
- 6The official position of a church as the state's own church.
Like a country picking one church to be its official one.
Some people want to end the establishment of the church in England.
The establishment of the church gives bishops seats in Parliament.
Note
Practice
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Origin
It comes from an Old French word establissement, from the verb establir. It is like the word 'establish' plus '-ment'.