\Es*tab"lish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Established}; p.
pr. & vb. n. {Establishing}.] [OE. establissen, OF. establir,
F. ['e]tablir, fr. L. stabilire, fr. stabilis firm, steady,
stable. See {Stable}, a., {-ish}, and cf. {Stablish}.]
1. To make stable or firm; to fix immovably or firmly; to set
   (a thing) in a place and make it stable there; to settle;
   to confirm.
         So were the churches established in the faith.
                                               --Acts xvi. 5.
         The best established tempers can scarcely forbear
         being borne down.                     --Burke.
         Confidence which must precede union could be
         established only by consummate prudence and
         self-control.                         --Bancroft.
2. To appoint or constitute for permanence, as officers,
   laws, regulations, etc.; to enact; to ordain.
         By the consent of all, we were established The
         people's magistrates.                 --Shak.
         Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the
         writing, that it be not changed.      --Dan. vi. 8.
3. To originate and secure the permanent existence of; to
   found; to institute; to create and regulate; -- said of a
   colony, a state, or other institutions.
         He hath established it [the earth], he created it
         not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited. --Is.
                                               xlv. 18.
         Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and
         establisheth a city by iniquity!      --Hab. ii. 12.
4. To secure public recognition in favor of; to prove and
   cause to be accepted as true; as, to establish a fact,
   usage, principle, opinion, doctrine, etc.
         At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of
         three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
                                               --Deut. xix.
                                               15.
5. To set up in business; to place advantageously in a fixed
   condition; -- used reflexively; as, he established himself
   in a place; the enemy established themselves in the
   citadel.