Set

As an update to my previous post note the following information that crops up on keying in the word "set" to the online etymology dictionary search box re http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=set&searchmode=none:

set (v.) 

Old English settan (transitive) "cause to sit, put in some place, fix firmly; build, found; appoint, assign," from Proto-Germanic*(bi)satjan "to cause to sit, set" (cf. Old Norse setja, Swedish sätta, Old Saxon settian, Old Frisian setta, Dutch zetten, Germansetzen, Gothic satjan), causative form of PIE *sod-, variant of *sed- "to sit" (see sit (v.)). Also cf. set (n.2).

Intransitive sense from c.1200, "be seated." Used in many disparate senses by Middle English; sense of "make or cause to do, act, or be; start" and that of "mount a gemstone" attested by mid-13c. Confused with sit since early 14c. Of the sun, moon, etc., "to go down," recorded from c.1300, perhaps from similar use of the cognates in Scandinavian languages. To set (something) on "incite to attack" (c.1300) originally was in reference to hounds and game.

set (adj.) 

"fixed," c.1200, sett, past participle of setten "to set" (see set (v.)). Meaning "ready, prepared" first recorded 1844.

set (n.1) 

"collection of things," mid-15c., from Old French sette "sequence," variant of secte "religious community," from Medieval Latinsecta "retinue," from Latin secta "a following" (see sect). "[I]n subsequent developments of meaning influenced by SET v.1 and apprehended as equivalent to 'number set together'" [OED]. The noun set was in Middle English, but only in the sense of "religious sect" (late 14c.), which likely is the direct source of some modern meanings, e.g. "group of persons with shared status, habits, etc." (1680s).

Meaning "complete collection of pieces" is from 1680s. Meaning "group of pieces musicians perform at a club during 45 minutes" (more or less) is from c.1925, though it is found in a similar sense in 1580s. Set piece is from 1846 as "grouping of people in a work of visual art;" from 1932 in reference to literary works.

set (n.2) 

"act of setting; condition of being set" (of a heavenly body), mid-14c., from set (v.) or its identical past participle. Many disparate senses collect under this word because of the far-flung meanings assigned to the verb:

"Action of hardening," 1837; also "manner or position in which something is set" (1530s), hence "general movement, direction, tendency" (1560s); "build, form" (1610s), hence "bearing, carriage" (1855); "action of fixing the hair in a particular style" (1933).

"Something that has been set" (1510s), hence the use in tennis (1570s) and the theatrical meaning "scenery for an individual scene in a play, etc.," recorded from 1859. Other meanings OED groups under "miscellaneous technical senses" include "piece of electrical apparatus" (1891, first in telegraphy); "burrow of a badger" (1898). Old English had set "seat," in plural "camp; stable," but OED finds it "doubtful whether this survived beyond OE." Cf. set (n.1).

Set (n.1) and set (n.2) are not always distinguished in dictionaries; OED has them as two entries, Century Dictionary as one. The difference of opinion seems to be whether the set meaning "group, grouping" (here (n.2)) is a borrowing of the unrelated French word that sounds like the native English one, or a borrowing of the sense only, which was absorbed into the English word.

Set 

Egyptian god, from Greek Seth, from Egyptian Setesh.

set off (v.) 

verbal phrase; see set (v.) + off (adv.). From 1590s as "make prominent by contrast," 1610s as "adorn." Intransitive sense of "start on a journey" is from 1774. Meaning "separate from contect" (in typography) is from 1824; sense of "ignite, discharge, cause to explode" is from 1810.

set-aside (n.) 

1943, from verbal phrase (early 15c.); see set (v.) + aside (adv.).

set-to (n.) 

"bout, fight," 1743, originally pugilistic slang, from verbal phrase; see set (v.) + to.

set-up (n.) 

"arrangement," 1890, from verbal phrase set up, attested from c.1200 as "to make ready for use" and from 1950 (in pugilism) as "to bring (someone) to a vulnerable position;" from set (v.) + up (adv.). The verbal phrase also can mean "to establish" (early 15c.) and "put drinks before customers" (1880).

seta (n.) 

plural setae, 1793, from Latin seta "bristle," from PIE root *sai- "to tie, bind" (see sinew). Related: Setaceous.

setback (n.) 

also set-back, 1670s, "reversal, check to progress," from set (v.) + back (adv.). Sometimes backset was used in the same sense. Meaning "space between a building and a property line" is from 1916. To set (someone) back "cost" is from 1900.

Seth 

masc. proper name, Biblical third son of Adam, literally "set, appointed," from Hebrew Sheth, from shith "to put, set." The Gnostic sect of Sethites (2c.) believed Christ was a reappearance of Seth, whom they venerated as the first spiritual man.

setness (n.) 

1640s, from set (n.2) + -ness. Old English had setnes, which was pressed into service to translate various ideas in Roman law and Christianity: "foundation, creation, construction; size, extent; law, ordinance; instruction; sentence."

sett (n.) 

see set (n.1).

The extra t is an arbitrary addition in various technical senses, from a lawn-tennis to a granite set. Each class of persons has doubtless added it to distinguish the special sense that means most to it from all others ; but so many are the special senses that the distinction is now no more distinctive than an Esq. after a man's name, & all would do well to discard it. [Fowler]

settee (n.) 

"long seat with back and arms," 1716, perhaps a variant of settle (n.), or a diminutive of set (v.) "act of setting."

setter (n.) 

"one who sets (something)," c.1400, agent noun from set (v.). As a type of hunting-dog (originally a type of spaniel), 1570s, so called because the dog is "set" on game.

setting (n.) 

late 14c., "fact or action of setting (something), putting, placing, planting," verbal noun from set (v.).

Meaning "place, location, site" is late 14c. Surgical sense, with reference to broken bones, etc., is from early 15c. In reference to heavenly bodies, from c.1400. Also in Middle English "act of creation; thing created" (c.1400). In reference to mounts for jewels, etc. from 1815; meaning "background, history, environment" is attested from 1841.

settle (v.) 

"come to rest," Old English setlan "cause to sit, place, put," from setl "a seat" (see settle (n.)). Related: Settling. Cf. Germansiedeln "to settle, colonize."

From c.1300 of birds, etc., "to alight." From early 14c. as "sink down, descend; cave in." Early 15c. in reference to suspended particles in a liquid. Sense of "establish a permanent residence" first recorded 1620s; that of "decide" is 1620s. Meaning "secure title to by deed" is from 1660s.

Meaning "reconcile" (a quarrel, differences, etc.) perhaps is influenced by Middle English sahtlen "to reconcile," from Old English saht "reconciliation," from Old Norse satt "reconciliation." To settle down "become content" is from 1853; transitive sense from 1520s; as what married couples do in establishing domesticity, from 1718. To settle for "content oneself with" is from 1943.

settle (n.) 

"long bench," 1550s, from Middle English setle "a seat," from Old English setl "a seat, stall; position, abode; setting of a heavenly body," related to sittan "to sit," from Proto-Germanic *setla- (cf. Middle Low German, Middle Dutch setel, Dutchzetel, German Sessel, Gothic sitls), from PIE *sedla- (cf. Latin sella "seat, chair," Old Church Slavonic sedlo "saddle," Old English sadol "saddle"), from root *sed- (1) "to sit" (see sedentary).

settled (adj.) 

"firmly fixed," also "quiet, orderly, steady," 1550s, past participle adjective from settle (v.).

settlement (n.) 

1620s, "act of fixing or steadying;" from settle (v.) + -ment. Meaning "a colony," especially a new one, "tract of country newly developed" is attested from 1690s; that of "small village on the frontier" is from 1827, American English. Sense of "payment of an account" is from 1729; legal sense "a settling of arrangements" (of divorce, property transfer, etc.) is from 1670s.

settler (n.) 

1590s, "a thing that settles" (a debate, etc.); agent noun from settle (v.). Meaning "a person who moves into a new country" is from 1690s.

anisette (n.) 

"liqueur flavored with aniseed," 1837, from French Anisette de Bordeaux, from diminutive of anis (see anise).

asset (n.) 

see assets.

assets (n.) 

1530s, "sufficient estate," from Anglo-French asetz (singular), from Old French assez (11c.) "sufficiency, satisfaction; compensation," noun use of adverb meaning "enough, sufficiently; very much, a great deal," from Vulgar Latin *ad satis "to sufficiency," from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + satis "enough" (see sad).

Beginning as a legal term, "sufficient estate" (to satisfy debts and legacies), it passed into general use; meaning "any property that theoretically can be converted to ready money" is from 1580s. Asset is a 19c. artificial singular. Asset stripping attested from 1972.

basset (n.) 

type of short-legged dog, 1610s, from French basset, from Old French bas "low" (see base (adj.)) + diminutive suffix.

beset (v.) 

Old English besettan "to put, place; own, keep; occupy, settle; cover, surround with, besiege," from Proto-Germanic *bisatjan(cf. Old Saxon bisettjan, Dutch bezetten, Old High German bisezzan, German besetzen, Gothic bisatjan); see be- + set (v.). The figurative sense also was in Old English. Related: Beset (past tense); besetting.

cassette (n.) 

1793, "little box," from French cassette, from Middle French casset, diminutive of Old North French casse "box" (see case(n.2)). Meaning "magnetic tape recorder cartridge" is from 1960.

closet (n.) 

late 14c., from Old French closet "small enclosure, private room," diminutive of clos "enclosure," from Latin clausum "closed space, enclosure, confinement," from neuter past participle of claudere "to shut" (see close (v.)). In Matt. vi:6 it renders Latincubiculum "bedchamber, bedroom," Greek tamieion "chamber, inner chamber, secret room;" thus originally in English "a private room for study or prayer." Modern sense of "small side-room for storage" is first recorded 1610s.

The adjective is from 1680s, "private, secluded;" meaning "secret, unknown" recorded from 1952, first of alcoholism, but by 1970s used principally of homosexuality; the phrase come out of the closet "admit something openly" first recorded 1963, and lent new meanings to the word out.

closet (v.) 

"shut up as in a closet" (originally usually for purposes of concealment or private consultation), 1680s, from closet (v.). Related: Closeted; closeting.

copasetic 

see copacetic.

copesetic (adj.) 

see copacetic.

corset (n.) 

c.1300, "kind of laced bodice," from Old French corset (13c.) "bodice, tunic," diminutive of cors "body" (see corps). Meaning "stiff supporting and constricting undergarment" is from 1795.

cosset (v.) 

1650s, "to fondle, caress, indulge," from a noun (1570s) meaning "lamb brought up as a pet" (applied to persons from 1590s), perhaps from Old English cot-sæta "one who dwells in a cot." Related: Coseted; coseting. Cf. German Hauslamm, Italiancasiccio.

falsetto (n.) 

"an artificial voice," 1774, Italian, diminutive of falso "false," from Latin falsus (see false).

gusset (n.) 

early 14c., from Old French gosset "armpit; piece of armor for the armpit" (13c.), apparently from gousse "shell of a nut," of unknown origin. Originally an armorer's term; of clothing from 1560s.

horsetail (n.) 

c.1400, from horse (n.) + tail (n.). As a kind of plant, from 1530s.

inset (n.) 

1550s, "influx of water, place where water flows in," from in + set (n.2). Meaning "extra pages of a book, etc." is from 1875; that of "small map in the border of a larger one" is from 1881.

Knesset 

Israeli parliament, 1949, from Mishnaic Hebrew keneseth "gathering, assembly," from stem of Hebrew kanas "he gathered, assembled, collected."

marmoset (n.) 

"small monkey," late 14c., from Old French marmoset "grotesque figurine; fool, jester" (late 13c.), perhaps a variant ofmarmote "long-tailed monkey, ape," then, as a term of endearment, "little child;" said to be from marmonner, marmotter "to mutter, mumble," probably of imitative origin. Some French authorities suggest a derivation of marmoset from marmor"marble," as if "little marble figurine."

Massachusetts 

plural, originally (1614) a name for the Algonquian native people who lived around the bay, from Algonquian Massachusett "at the large hill," in reference to Great Blue Hill, southwest of Boston.

mindset (n.) 

also mind-set, "habits of mind formed by previous experience," 1920, in educators' jargon, from mind (n.) + set (v.).

mousetrap (n.) 

late 15c., from mouse (n.) + trap (n.). Figurative use from 1570s. The thing is older than the word. Old English had musfealle; Middle English had mouscacche (late 14c.).

musette (n.) 

"small bagpipe," late 14c., from Old French musette "bagpipe" (13c.), from muser "to play the bagpipe, make music," from mus"mouth, muzzle," from Medieval Latin musum (see muzzle (n.)). As "a composition for a musette" from 1811, from French.

Narragansett 

1622, from southern New England Algonquian Naiaganset "(people) of the small point of land," containing nai- "a point or angle." Originally in reference to the native people, later to the place in Rhode Island.

offset (n.) 

1550s, "act of setting off" (on a journey, etc.), from off + set (adj.). Meaning "something 'set off' against something else, a counterbalance" is from 1769; the verb in this sense is from 1792. As a type of printing, in which the inked impression is first made on a rubber roller then transferred to paper, it is recorded from 1906.

onset (n.) 

1530s, "attack, assault," from on + set (n.); cf. to set (something) on (someone). Weaker sense of "beginning, start" first recorded 1560s. Figurative use in reference to a calamity, disease, etc. is from 1580s.

outset (n.) 

"act of setting out on a journey, business, etc." 1759, from out + set (v.). The earlier word for this was outsetting (1670s).

place-setting (n.) 

1939, from place (n.) + setting (n.).

poinsettia (n.) 

from the genus name (1836), Modern Latin, in recognition of Joel R. Poinsett (1779-1851), U.S. ambassador to Mexico, who is said to have brought the plant to the attention of botanists.