Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Settlement \Set"tle*ment\, n.
   1. The act of setting, or the state of being settled.
      Specifically:
      (a) Establishment in life, in business, condition, etc.;
          ordination or installation as pastor.

                Every man living has a design in his head upon
                wealth power, or settlement in the world.
                                                  --L'Estrange.
      (b) The act of peopling, or state of being peopled; act of
          planting, as a colony; colonization; occupation by
          settlers; as, the settlement of a new country.

Source : WordNet®

settlement
     n 1: a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties
          with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of
          their home state but are not literally under the home
          state's system of government [syn: {colony}]
     2: a community of people smaller than a town [syn: {village}, {small
        town}]
     3: a conclusive resolution of a matter and disposition of it
     4: the act of colonizing; the establishment of colonies; "the
        British colonization of America" [syn: {colonization}, {colonisation}]
     5: something settled or resolved; the outcome of decision
        making; "the finally reached a settlement with the union";
        "they never did achieve a final resolution of their
        differences"; "he needed to grieve before he could achieve
        a sense of closure" [syn: {resolution}, {closure}]
     6: an area where a group of families live together
     7: termination of a business operation by using its assets to
        discharge its liabilities [syn: {liquidation}]