set

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: OE. setten, AS. setton; akin to OS. settian, OFries. setta, D. zetten, OHG. sezzen, G. setzen, Icel. setja, Sw. sätta, Dan. s…tte, Goth. satjan; causative from the root of E. sit. √154. See Sit, and cf. Seize.

1. To cause to sit; to make to assume a specified position or attitude; to give site or place to; to place; to put; to fix; as, to set a house on a stone foundation; to set a book on a shelf; to set a dish on a table; to set a chest or trunk on its bottom or on end.

I do set my bow in the cloud.— Gen. ix. 13.

2. Hence, to attach or affix (something) to something else, or in or upon a certain place.

Set your affection on things above.— Col. iii. 2.

The Lord set a mark upon Cain.— Gen. iv. 15.

3. To make to assume specified place, condition, or occupation; to put in a certain condition or state (described by the accompanying words); to cause to be.

The Lord thy God will set thee on high.— Deut. xxviii. 1.

I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother.— Matt. x. 35.

Every incident sets him thinking.— Samuel T. Coleridge

4. To fix firmly; to make fast, permanent, or stable; to render motionless; to give an unchanging place, form, or condition to. Specifically: —

(a) To cause to stop or stick; to obstruct; to fasten to a spot; hence, to occasion difficulty to; to embarrass; as, to set a coach in the mud.

They show how hard they are set in this particular.— Joseph Addison

(b) To fix beforehand; to determine; hence, to make unyielding or obstinate; to render stiff, unpliant, or rigid; as, to set one's countenance.

His eyes were set by reason of his age.— 1 Kings xiv. 4.

On these three objects his heart was set.— Thomas Babington Macaulay

Make my heart as a millstone, set my face as a flint.— Alfred Tennyson

(c) To fix in the ground, as a post or a tree; to plant; as, to set pear trees in an orchard.

(d) To fix, as a precious stone, in a border of metal; to place in a setting; hence, to place in or amid something which serves as a setting; as, to set glass in a sash.

And him too rich a jewel to be set In vulgar metal for a vulgar use.— John Dryden

(e) To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into curd; to curdle; as, to set milk for cheese.

5. To put into a desired position or condition; to adjust; to regulate; to adapt. Specifically: —

(a) To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare; as, to set (that is, to hone) a razor; to set a saw.

Tables for to sette, and beddes make.— Geoffrey Chaucer

(b) To extend and bring into position; to spread; as, to set the sails of a ship.

(c) To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote; as, to set a psalm. Henry Fielding

(d) To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state; to replace; as, to set a broken bone.

(e) To make to agree with some standard; as, to set a watch or a clock.

(f) Masonry To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure.

6. To stake at play; to wager; to risk.

I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the die.— William Shakespeare

7. To fit with music; to adapt, as words to notes; to prepare for singing.

Set thy own songs, and sing them to thy lute.— John Dryden

8. To determine; to appoint; to assign; to fix; as, to set a time for a meeting; to set a price on a horse.

9. To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there.

High on their heads, with jewels richly set, Each lady wore a radiant coronet.— John Dryden

Pastoral dales thin set with modern farms.— William Wordsworth

10. To value; to rate; — with at.

Be you contented, wearing now the garland, To have a son set your decrees at naught.— William Shakespeare

I do not set my life at a pin's fee.— William Shakespeare

11. To point out the seat or position of, as birds, or other game; — said of hunting dogs.

12. To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign; as, to set an example; to set lessons to be learned.

13. To suit; to become; as, it sets him ill. Scottish

14. Printing To compose; to arrange in words, lines, etc.; as, to set type; to set a page.

To set abroach. See Abroach. obsolete William Shakespeare — To set against, to oppose; to set in comparison with, or to oppose to, as an equivalent in exchange; as, to set one thing against another. — To set agoing, to cause to move. — To set apart, to separate to a particular use; to separate from the rest; to reserve. — To set a saw, to bend each tooth a little, every alternate one being bent to one side, and the intermediate ones to the other side, so that the opening made by the saw may be a little wider than the thickness of the back, to prevent the saw from sticking. — To set aside. (a) To leave out of account; to pass by; to omit; to neglect; to reject; to annul.

Setting aside all other considerations, I will endeavor to know the truth, and yield to that.— John Tilllotson

(b) To set apart; to reserve; as, to set aside part of one's income. (c) Law See under Aside. — To set at defiance, to defy. — To set at ease, to quiet; to tranquilize; as, to set the heart at ease. — To set at naught, to undervalue; to contemn; to despise. “Ye have set at naught all my counsel.” Prov. i. 25. — To set a trap To set a snare, or To set a gin, to put it in a proper condition or position to catch prey; hence, to lay a plan to deceive and draw another into one's power. — To set at work, or To set to work. (a) To cause to enter on work or action, or to direct how tu enter on work. (b) To apply one's self; — used reflexively. — To set before. (a) To bring out to view before; to exhibit. (b) To propose for choice to; to offer to. — To set by. (a) To set apart or on one side; to reject. (b) To attach the value of (anything) to. “I set not a straw by thy dreamings.” Geoffrey Chaucer — To set by the compass, to observe and note the bearing or situation of by the compass. — To set case, to suppose; to assume. Cf. Put case, under Put, transitive verb obsolete Geoffrey Chaucer — To set down. (a) To enter in writing; to register.

Some rules were to be set down for the government of the army.— Edward Hyde, first earl of Clarendon

(b) To fix; to establish; to ordain.

This law we may name eternal, being that order which God... hath set down with himself, for himself to do all things by.— Richard Hooker

(c) To humiliate. — To set eyes on, to see; to behold; to fasten the eyes on. — To set fire to, or To set on fire, to communicate fire to; fig., to inflame; to enkindle the passions of; to irritate. — To set flying Nautical, to hook to halyards, sheets, etc., instead of extending with rings or the like on a stay; — said of a sail. — To set forth. (a) To manifest; to offer or present to view; to exhibt; to display. (b) To publish; to promulgate; to make appear. Edmund Waller (c) To send out; to prepare and send. obsolete

The Venetian admiral had a fleet of sixty galleys, set forth by the Venetians.— Richard Knolles

— To set forward. (a) To cause to advance. (b) To promote. — To set free, to release from confinement, imprisonment, or bondage; to liberate; to emancipate. — To set in, to put in the way; to begin; to give a start to. obsolete

If you please to assist and set me in, I will recollect myself.— Jeremy Collier

— To set in order, to adjust or arrange; to reduce to method. “The rest will I set in order when I come.” 1 Cor. xi. 34. — To set milk. (a) To expose it in open dishes in order that the cream may rise to the surface. (b) To cause it to become curdled as by the action of rennet. See 4 (e). — To set much by or To set little by, to care much, or little, for. — To set of, to value; to set by. obsolete “I set not an haw of his proverbs.” Geoffrey Chaucer — To set off. (a) To separate from a whole; to assign to a particular purpose; to portion off; as, to set off a portion of an estate. (b) To adorn; to decorate; to embellish.

They... set off the worst faces with the best airs.— Joseph Addison

(c) To give a flattering description of. — To set off against, to place against as an equivalent; as, to set off one man's services against another's. — To set on or To set upon. (a) To incite; to instigate. “Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this.” William Shakespeare (b) To employ, as in a task. “ Set on thy wife to observe.” William Shakespeare (c) To fix upon; to attach strongly to; as, to set one's heart or affections on some object. See definition 2, above. — To set one's cap for. See under Cap, noun — To set one's self against, to place one's self in a state of enmity or opposition to. — To set one's teeth, to press them together tightly. — To set on foot, to set going; to put in motion; to start. — To set out. (a) To assign; to allot; to mark off; to limit; as, to set out the share of each proprietor or heir of an estate; to set out the widow's thirds. (b) To publish, as a proclamation. obsolete (c) To adorn; to embellish.

An ugly woman, in rich habit set out with jewels, nothing can become.— John Dryden

(d) To raise, equip, and send forth; to furnish. rare

The Venetians pretend they could set out, in case of great necessity, thirty men-of-war.— Joseph Addison

(e) To show; to display; to recommend; to set off.

I could set out that best side of Luther.— Francis Atterbury

(f) To show; to prove. rare “Those very reasons set out how heinous his sin was.” Francis Atterbury (g) Law To recite; to state at large. — To set over. (a) To appoint or constitute as supervisor, inspector, ruler, or commander. (b) To assign; to transfer; to convey. — To set right, to correct; to put in order. — To set sail. Nautical See under Sail, noun — To set store by, to consider valuable. — To set the fashion, to determine what shall be the fashion; to establish the mode. — To set the teeth on edge, to affect the teeth with a disagreeable sensation, as when acids are brought in contact with them. — To set the watch Nautical, to place the starboard or port watch on duty. — To set to, to attach to; to affix to. “He... hath set to his seal that God is true.” John iii. 33. — To set up. a To erect; to raise; to elevate; as, to set up a building, or a machine; to set up a post, a wall, a pillar. (b) Hence, to exalt; to put in power. “I will... set up the throne of David over Israel.” 2 Sam. iii. 10. (c) To begin, as a new institution; to institute; to establish; to found; as, to set up a manufactory; to set up a school. (d) To enable to commence a new business; as, to set up a son in trade. (e) To place in view; as, to set up a mark. (f) To raise; to utter loudly; as, to set up the voice.

I'll set up such a note as she shall hear.— John Dryden

(g) To advance; to propose as truth or for reception; as, to set up a new opinion or doctrine. Burnet, Thomas (h) To raise from depression, or to a sufficient fortune; as, this good fortune quite set him up. (i) To intoxicate. slang (j) Printing To put in type; as, to set up copy; to arrange in words, lines, etc., ready for printing; as, to set up type. — To set up the rigging Nautical, to make it taut by means of tackles. Richard Henry, Jr. Dana

Synonyms: See Put.

1. To pass below the horizon; to go down; to decline; to sink out of sight; to come to an end.

Ere the weary sun set in the west.— William Shakespeare

Thus this century sets with little mirth, and the next is likely to arise with more mourning.— Thomas Fuller

2. To fit music to words. obsolete William Shakespeare

3. To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant. “To sow dry, and set wet.” Old Proverb.

4. To be fixed for growth; to strike root; to begin to germinate or form; as, cuttings set well; the fruit has set well (i. e., not blasted in the blossom).

5. To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened.

A gathering and serring of the spirits together to resist, maketh the teeth to set hard one against another.— Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon

6. To congeal; to concrete; to solidify; — of cements, glues, gels, concrete, substances polymerizing into plastics, etc.

That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set.— Robert Boyle

7. To have a certain direction in motion; to flow; to move on; to tend; as, the current sets to the north; the tide sets to the windward.

8. To begin to move; to go out or forth; to start; — now followed by out.

The king is set from London.— William Shakespeare

9. To indicate the position of game; — said of a dog; as, the dog sets well; also, to hunt game by the aid of a setter.

10. To apply one's self; to undertake earnestly; — now followed by out.

If he sets industriously and sincerely to perform the commands of Christ, he can have no ground of doubting but it shall prove successful to him.— Henry Hammond

11. To fit or suit one; to sit; as, the coat sets well. [Colloquially used, but improperly, for sit.]

☞ The use of the verb set for sit in such expressions as, the hen is setting on thirteen eggs; a setting hen, etc., although colloquially common, and sometimes tolerated in serious writing, is not to be approved.

To set about, to commence; to begin. — To set forward, to move or march; to begin to march; to advance. — To set forth, to begin a journey. — To set in. (a) To begin; to enter upon a particular state; as, winter set in early. (b) To settle one's self; to become established. “When the weather was set in to be very bad.” Joseph Addison (c) To flow toward the shore; — said of the tide. — To set off. (a) To enter upon a journey; to start. (b) Typog. To deface or soil the next sheet; — said of the ink on a freshly printed sheet, when another sheet comes in contact with it before it has had time to dry. — To set on or To set upon. (a) To begin, as a journey or enterprise; to set about.

He that would seriously set upon the search of truth.— John Locke

(b) To assault; to make an attack. Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon

Cassio hath here been set on in the dark.— William Shakespeare

— To set out, to begin a journey or course; as, to set out for London, or from London; to set out in business;to set out in life or the world. — To set to, to apply one's self to. — To set up. (a) To begin business or a scheme of life; as, to set up in trade; to set up for one's self. (b) To profess openly; to make pretensions.

Those men who set up for mortality without regard to religion, are generally but virtuous in part.— Jonathan Swift

1. Fixed in position; immovable; rigid; as, a set line; a set countenance.

2. Firm; unchanging; obstinate; as, set opinions or prejudices.

3. Regular; uniform; formal; as, a set discourse; a set battle. “The set phrase of peace.” William Shakespeare

4. Established; prescribed; as, set forms of prayer.

5. Adjusted; arranged; formed; adapted.

Set hammer. (a) A hammer the head of which is not tightly fastened upon the handle, but may be reversed. Knight, Edward Henry (b) A hammer with a concave face which forms a die for shaping anything, as the end of a bolt, rivet, etc. — Set line, a line to which a number of baited hooks are attached, and which, supported by floats and properly secured, may be left unguarded during the absence of the fisherman. — Set nut, a jam nut or lock nut. See under Nut. — Set screw Machinery, a screw, sometimes cupped or printed at one end, and screwed through one part, as of a machine, tightly upon another part, to prevent the one from slipping upon the other. — Set speech, a speech carefully prepared before it is delivered in public; a formal or methodical speech.

1. The act of setting, as of the sun or other heavenly body; descent; hence, the close; termination. “Locking at the set of day.” Alfred Tennyson

The weary sun hath made a golden set.— William Shakespeare

2. That which is set, placed, or fixed. Specifically: — (a) A young plant for growth; as, a set of white thorn. (b) That which is staked; a wager; a venture; a stake; hence, a game at venture. obsolete or rare

We will in France, by God's grace, play a set Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard.— William Shakespeare

That was but civil war, an equal set.— John Dryden

(c) Mechanics Permanent change of figure in consequence of excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.; as, the set of a spring.

(d) A kind of punch used for bending, indenting, or giving shape to, metal; as, a saw set.

(e) Pile Driving A piece placed temporarily upon the head of a pile when the latter cannot be reached by the weight, or hammer, except by means of such an intervening piece. [Often incorrectly written sett.]

(f) Carpentry A short steel spike used for driving the head of a nail below the surface. Called also nail set.

3. A number of things of the same kind, ordinarily used or classed together; a collection of articles which naturally complement each other, and usually go together; an assortment; a suit; as, a set of chairs, of china, of surgical or mathematical instruments, of books, etc. [In this sense, sometimes incorrectly written sett.]

4. A number of persons associated by custom, office, common opinion, quality, or the like; a division; a group; a clique. “Others of our set.” Alfred Tennyson

This falls into different divisions, or sets, of nations connected under particular religions.— Robert Plumer Ward

5. Direction or course; as, the set of the wind, or of a current.

6. In dancing, the number of persons necessary to execute a quadrille; also, the series of figures or movements executed.

7. The deflection of a tooth, or of the teeth, of a saw, which causes the the saw to cut a kerf, or make an opening, wider than the blade.

8. (a) A young oyster when first attached. (b) Collectively, the crop of young oysters in any locality.

9. Tennis A series of as many games as may be necessary to enable one side to win six. If at the end of the tenth game the score is a tie, the set is usually called a deuce set, and decided by an application of the rules for playing off deuce in a game. See Deuce.

10. Type Founding That dimension of the body of a type called by printers the width.

11. Textiles Any of various standards of measurement of the fineness of cloth; specif., the number of reeds in one inch and the number of threads in each reed. The exact meaning varies according to the location where it is used. Sometimes written sett.

12. A stone, commonly of granite, shaped like a short brick and usually somewhat larger than one, used for street paving. Commonly written sett.

13. Camber of a curved roofing tile.

14. The manner, state, or quality of setting or fitting; fit; as, the set of a coat. colloquial

15. Any collection or group of objects considered together.

Dead set. (a) The act of a setter dog when it discovers the game, and remains intently fixed in pointing it out. (b) A fixed or stationary condition arising from obstacle or hindrance; a deadlock; as, to be at a dead set. (c) A concerted scheme to defraud by gaming; a determined onset. — To make a dead set, to make a determined onset, literally or figuratively.

Synonyms: Collection; series; group. See Pair.

Egyptian Mythology An evil beast-headed god with high square ears and a long snout; his was the brother and murderer of Osiris. Called also Seth

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: +PJC, 1913 supplement, GCIDE editors, WordNet 1.6

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(1999-03-26)

A collection of objects, known as the elements of the set, specified in such a way that we can tell in principle whether or not a given object belongs to it. E.g. the set of all prime numbers, the set of zeros of the cosine function.

For each set there is a predicate (or property) which is true for (possessed by) exactly those objects which are elements of the set. The predicate may be defined by the set or vice versa. Order and repetition of elements within the set are irrelevant so, for example, 1, 2, 3 = 3, 2, 1 = 1, 3, 1, 2, 2.

Some common set of numbers are given the following names:

N = the natural numbers 0, 1, 2, ...

Z = the integers ..., -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, ...

Q = the rational numbers p/q where p, q are in Z and q /= 0.

R = the real numbers

C = the complex numbers.

The empty set is the set with no elements. The intersection of two sets X and Y is the set containing all the elements x such that x is in X and x is in Y. The union of two sets is the set containing all the elements x such that x is in X or x is in Y.

See also set complement.

(1995-01-24)