Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Establish \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.

Source : WordNet®

establish
     v 1: set up or found; "She set up a literacy program" [syn: {set
          up}, {found}, {launch}] [ant: {abolish}]
     2: set up or lay the groundwork for; "establish a new
        department" [syn: {found}, {plant}, {constitute}, {institute}]
     3: establish the validity of something, as by an example,
        explanation or experiment; "The experiment demonstrated
        the instability of the compound"; "The mathematician
        showed the validity of the conjecture" [syn: {prove}, {demonstrate},
         {show}, {shew}] [ant: {disprove}]
     4: institute, enact, or establish; "make laws" [syn: {lay down},
         {make}]
     5: bring about; "The trompe l'oeil-illusion establishes depth"
        [syn: {give}]
     6: place; "Her manager had set her up at the Ritz" [syn: {install},
         {instal}, {set up}]
     7: use as a basis for; found on; "base a claim on some
        observation" [syn: {base}, {ground}, {found}]
     8: build or establish something abstract; "build a reputation"
        [syn: {build}]