- settlement
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/set"l meuhnt/, n.1. the act or state of settling or the state of being settled.2. the act of making stable or putting on a permanent basis.3. a state of stability or permanence.4. an arrangement or adjustment, as of business affairs or a disagreement.5. an agreement signed after labor negotiations between union and management.6. the terms reached in this agreement.7. the settling of persons in a new country or place.8. a colony, esp. in its early stages.9. a small community, village, or group of houses in a thinly populated area.10. a community formed and populated by members of a particular religious or ideological group: a Shaker settlement.11. the satisfying of a claim or demand; a coming to terms.12. Law.a. final disposition of an estate or the like.b. the settling of property, title, etc., upon a person.c. the property so settled.13. Brit.a. legal residence in a specific place.b. (of a pauper) the right to claim food and shelter from an official agency or specific town or district.14. Also called settlement house. Social Work. an establishment in an underprivileged area providing social services to local residents.15. a subsidence or sinking of all or part of a structure.[1620-30; SETTLE1 + -MENT]
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IIn law, a compromise or agreement between litigants to settle the matters in dispute between them in order to dispose of and conclude their litigation.Generally, as a result of the settlement, prosecution of the action is withdrawn or dismissed without any judgment being entered. The parties may, however, incorporate the terms of the settlement into a consent decree, recorded by the court. Most suits brought today are either withdrawn or settled.II(as used in expressions)Settlement Act ofProtocol for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes* * *
▪ lawin law, a compromise or agreement between litigants to settle the matters in dispute between them in order to dispose of and conclude their litigation. Generally, as a result of the settlement, prosecution of the action is withdrawn or dismissed without any judgment being entered (see nolle prosequi). In such cases, the settlement itself, as a binding contract between parties, prevents renewal of the litigation. But the parties may, and often do, incorporate the terms of the settlement into a consent judgment, recorded by the court. Such a judgment may afford the same protection against a reopening of the dispute in litigation as is provided by a court judgment at the conclusion of a fully litigated case.Settlements commonly provide for, or are construed to allow, either party to enforce their terms or to ignore them and reopen the underlying dispute if the other party fails to fulfill the terms and conditions agreed upon. Because, in modern litigation, most suits brought are either withdrawn or settled, the settlement constitutes an important feature of the process.The term settlement is also applied to a disposition of property to be held in trust.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
