Set Definition

sĕt

sets, setting

verb

sets, setting

To place in a sitting position; cause to sit; seat.

Webster's New World

To put or move (a part of the body) into or on a specified place.

To set foot on land.

Webster's New World

To cause or assign (someone) to undertake an action or perform a service.

The sergeant set the recruit to sweeping the barracks.

American Heritage

To begin to move, travel, etc.

Webster's New World

To put in a certain place or position; cause to be, lie, stand, etc. in a place.

Set the book on the table.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

adjective

Fixed or appointed in advance.

A set time.

Webster's New World

Established; prescribed, as by authority.

Webster's New World

Established by convention.

Followed set procedures for filing a grievance.

American Heritage

Deliberate; intentional; purposeful.

Webster's New World

Conventional; stereotyped; not spontaneous.

A set speech.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

noun

sets

A setting or being set.

Webster's New World

The condition resulting from setting.

American Heritage Medicine

The way or position in which a thing is set.

Webster's New World

Something which is set.

Webster's New World

A permanent firming or hardening of a substance, as by cooling.

American Heritage Medicine

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Antonyms:
single
individual

pronoun

An ancient Egyptian god, variously described as the god of chaos, the god of thunder and storms, or the god of destruction.

Wiktionary

idiom

set against

Strongly opposed to:
We are dead set against the idea.

American Heritage

set fire to

To cause to ignite and burn.

American Heritage

set foot in

To enter.

American Heritage

set foot on

To step on.

American Heritage

set in motion

To give impetus to:
The indictment set the judicial process in motion.

American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Set

Noun

Singular:

set

Plural:

apostle-spoons, sets

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Set

set against
set fire to
set foot in
set foot on
set in motion
set on
set (one's) heart on
set (one's) sights on
set on fire
set sail
set (someone) straight
set store by
set the pace
set the scene
set up housekeeping
set up shop
all set
set about
set against
set apart
set aside
set back
set down
set forth
set in
set off
set on
set out
set to
set up
set upon

Origin of Set

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.

From Wiktionary
From Middle English setten, from Old English settan, from Proto-Germanic *satjanÄ…, from Proto-Indo-European *sodéye-, causative of *sed- (“to sit").

From Wiktionary
Middle English sette from Old French from Medieval Latin secta retinue from Latin faction sect

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Middle English sett, from Old English gesett, past participle of settan.

From Wiktionary
Middle English setten from Old English settan sed- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition