set

Fixed in position.

Adjective

  1. Fixed in position.
    • Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both...
  2. Rigid, solidified.
  3. Ready, prepared.
    • on your marks, get set, go!; on your marks, set, go!
  4. Intent, determined (to do something).
    • set on getting to his destination
    • And she likes you so much, and thinks you so accomplished and distingué-looking, and was just as set as I was to have you for best man. - 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lloyd Osbourne, “In which Jim and I Take Different...
  5. Prearranged.
    • a set menu
    • a set book
    • The second level of reading we will call Inspectional Reading. It is characterized by its special emphasis on time. When reading at this level, the student is allowed a set time to complete an assigned amount of...
  6. Fixed in one’s opinion.
    • I’m set against the idea of smacking children to punish them.
  7. Fixed in a certain style.

Origin

From Middle English sett, from Old English ġesett, past participle of settan.

Forms

more set most set

Synonyms

determined intent dictated prearranged predetermined prescribed specified fixed rigid

Derived

aforeset all set close-set dead set dead set against deep-set go set hard-set have one's heart set on heavyset heavy-set mindset misset nail set offset outset photoset preset quickset saw set self-set set-aside setback set back

Noun Entry 2

  1. A young plant fit for setting out; a slip; shoot.
  2. A rudimentary fruit.
  3. The setting of the sun or other luminary; (by extension) the close of the day.
    • The weary sun hath made a golden set. - c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...
    • And a rose-bush leans upon, / Thou that faintly smilest still, / As a Naiad in a well, / Looking at the set of day, […] - 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “Adeline”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page...
  4. General movement; direction; drift; tendency.
    • Here and there, amongst individuals alive to the particular evils of the age, and watching the very set of the current, there may have been even a more systematic counteraction applied to the mischief. - 1840, Thomas De...
    • He put his eye to the alidade. “I thought so! Zero five four and that's allowing nothing for set and drift along the line of bearing. We're inside the departure point now[…]” - 1951, Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny, page...
  5. A matching collection of similar things. (Note the similar meaning in Etymology 2, Noun.)
    • a set of tables
  6. A collection of various objects for a particular purpose.
    • a set of tools
  7. An object made up of several parts.
    • a set of steps
  8. A collection of zero or more objects, possibly infinite in size, and disregarding any order or repetition of the objects which may be contained within it.
  9. Set theory.
  10. A group of people, usually meeting socially or connected through some shared interest, activity, attribute, etc.
    • the country set
    • That he took perfumed baths is a truth; and he used to say that he took them after meeting certain men of a very low set in hall. - 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter XIX, in The History...
    • “Good gracious, child, you didn't join the Theosophists and kiss Buddha's big toe, did you ? I tried to get into their set once, but they cast me out for a sceptic — without a chance of improving my poor little mind,...
  11. The scenery for a film or play.
  12. the general locations and area where a movie’s, a film’s, or a video’s scenery is arranged to be filmed also including places for actors, assorted crew, director, producers which are typically not filmed.

Origin

From Middle English set, sete, sette (“that which is set, the act of setting, seat”), from Old English set (“setting, seat, a place where people remain, habitation, camp, entrenchment, a place where animals are kept, stall, fold”) and Old English seten (“a set, shoot, slip, branch; a nursery, plantation; that which is planted or set; a cultivated place; planting, cultivation; a setting, putting; a stopping; occupied land”), related to Old English settan (“to set”). Compare Middle Low German gesette (“a set, suite”), Old English gesetl (“assembly”). According to Skeat, in senses denoting a group of things or persons, representing an alteration of sept, from Old French sette (“a religious sect”), from Medieval Latin secta (“retinue”), from Latin secta (“a faction”). See sect. It is quite possible that the modern word is more of a merger between both, however.

Forms

sets

Synonyms

dusk eve evening sundown sunset direction drift heading motion movement path tendency trend suite block set theory club coterie scenery gig session drums drum kit drum set

Related

bag closed set empty set Mandelbrot set multiset open set subset superset

Derived

afterset age set answer set programming antiset arithmetical set Aronhold set axiom of power set bedroom set bedset Besicovitch set biset bitset boneset Borel set boxed set box set brakeset breakfast set budset bump set cabana set Caccioppoli set callset Cantor set

Noun Entry 3

  1. A punch for setting nails in wood.
    • nail set
  2. A device for receiving broadcast radio waves (or, more recently, broadcast data); a radio or television.
    • television set
    • Say, you can watch 60 Minutes / Even Captain Kangaroo / But there's only one set, so whatever you watch / Well, you know I gotta watch it too - 1984, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “The Brady Bunch”, in "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D:
  3. Alternative form of sett (“a hole made and lived in by a badger”).
  4. Alternative form of sett (“pattern of threads and yarns”).
  5. Alternative form of sett (“piece of quarried stone”).
  6. A small tuber or bulb used instead of seed, particularly onion sets and potato sets.
  7. The amount by which the teeth of a saw protrude to the side in order to create the kerf.
  8. A permanent change of shape caused by excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.
    • the set of a spring
    • The wings were bent or set permanently 2 to 3 inches upward at the wingtips; however, the set was within the manufacturer's allowable tolerances. - 1986 March 29, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.12 Wreckage and...
  9. A bias of mind; an attitude or pattern of behaviour.
  10. A piece placed temporarily upon the head of a pile when the latter cannot otherwise be reached by the weight, or hammer.
  11. The width of the body of a type.
  12. A young oyster when first attached.

Origin

From Middle English set, sette, from Old English set (“seat, place of residence, camp, settlement, entrenchment, stable, pen”), from Proto-West Germanic *set (“seat”), from Proto-Germanic *setą (“seat”).

Forms

sets

Derived

butt set compression set dead set hookset instruction set architecture level set marzipan set offset onset outset radio set rearset rivet set seam set set dec set dresser setless set light setmaker set-off set tool set-top box stop set television set

Verb Entry 4

  1. To put (something) down, to rest.
    • Set the tray there.
    • He helped his mother set the table for lunch.

    Synonyms: put lay set down

    Antonyms: pick up

  2. To attach or affix (something) to something else, or in or upon a certain place.
    • I have set my heart on running the marathon.
    • The Lord set a mark upon Cain. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 4:15:
  3. To put in a specified condition or state; to cause to be.
    • The Lord thy God will set thee on high. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 28:1:
    • I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 10:35:
    • Every incident sets him thinking. - 1827, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Hamlet:
  4. To start (a fire).

    Synonyms: light

    Antonyms: extinguish put out quench

  5. To cause to stop or stick; to obstruct; to fasten to a spot.
    • to set a coach in the mud
  6. To determine or settle.
    • to set the rent
  7. To adjust.
    • I set the alarm at 6 a.m.
    • I set the alarm for 6 a.m.
  8. To punch (a nail) into wood so that its head is below the surface.
  9. To arrange with dishes and cutlery, to set the table.
    • Please set the table for our guests.
  10. To introduce or describe.
    • I’ll tell you what happened, but first let me set the scene.
    • An incident which happened about this time will set the characters of these two lads more fairly before the discerning reader than is in the power of the longest dissertation. - 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter II, in The...
  11. To locate (a play, etc.); to assign a backdrop to, geographically or temporally.
    • He says he will set his next film in France.
    • Her debut novel is set during the U.S. Civil War.
  12. To compile, to make (a puzzle or challenge).
    • This crossword was set by Araucaria.

Origin

From Middle English setten, from Old English settan, from Proto-West Germanic *sattjan, from Proto-Germanic *satjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sodéyeti, causative of *sed- (“to sit”). Cognate with Dutch zetten, German setzen, Danish sætte, Norwegian Bokmål sette, Icelandic and Norwegian Nynorsk setja, Swedish sätta, Faroese seta.

Forms

sets setting set setten no-table-tags glossary settest setteth -

Synonyms

go down go west

Derived

backset beset coldset foreset forset forthset gainset have one's heart set upon heatset inset level set misset nailset newset overset reset set aback set a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to the Devil set about set adrift set afire set after set against set ahead

Verb education

  1. To divide a class group in a subject according to ability
    • In setted classes, students are brought together because they are believed to be of similar 'ability'. Yet, setted lessons are often conducted as though students are not only similar, but identical—in terms of ability,...
    • At Amber Hill, setting was a high-profile concept, and the students were frequently reminded of the set to which they belonged. - 2002, Jo Boaler, Experiencing School Mathematics: Traditional and Reform Approaches and...
    • Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so...

Forms

sets setting setted

Wikipedia

set