sett

English

WOTD – 30 July 2016

Alternative forms

Etymology

A variant of set to distinguish various technical senses.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: sĕt, IPA(key): /sɛt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Homophone: set
  • Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

sett (plural setts)

  1. The system of tunnels that is the home of a badger.
    • 2006, David Kavanagh, A Country Pillow Book, page 69:
      But it is quite sad to reflect that some 4,500 badger setts were already wiped out using poisoned gas between 1975 and 1982. When you consider that an average sett can contain up to 15 animals, parents and cubs, it is easy to imagine the scale of suffering involved.
  2. The pattern of distinctive threads and yarns that make up the plaid of a Scottish tartan.
    • 2012, J. Charles Thompson, “Introduction”, in James Grant, Scottish Tartans in Full Color:
      The Vestiarium gave setts for Lowland houses as well as Highland clans [] and many families within the clans have their own setts to add to the clan tartans. [] The clans and families are branching out with Dress and Hunting tartans, and the same sett—any sett—may be produced in dark "modern," lighter "ancient" or "muted" color schemes.
  3. (weaving) The number of warp ends per inch in the cloth.
    Synonym: sley
  4. (weaving, England) The number of reeds or splits per inch – one half the number of ends per inch.
  5. A small, square-cut piece of quarried stone used for paving and edging.
    Synonym: Belgian block
    • 1911, “Aberdeen”, in Hugh Chisholm, editor, The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information, 11th edition, volume I, Cambridge, Mass., New York, N.Y.: At the University Press, →OCLC, page 49:
      Very durable grey granite has been quarried near Aberdeen for more than 300 years, and blocked and dressed paving "setts," kerb and building stones, and monumental and other ornamental work of granite have long been exported from the district to all parts of the world.
    • 1912, Joseph Conrad, chapter 7, in A Personal Record, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Bros. Publishers, →OCLC:
      Three horses trotted abreast, with the clatter of hoofs on the granite setts, and the yellow, uproarious machine jolted violently behind them, []
    • 1920, D[avid] H[erbert Richards] Lawrence, chapter 26, in Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed for subscribers only, →OCLC:
      The old market-square was not very large, a mere bare patch of granite setts, usually with a few fruit-stalls under a wall.
    • 2013 November 16, Tim Richardson, “The JFK memorial at Runnymede is fit to stand forever: Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe's wonderful tribute to JFK at Runnymede hinges on the power of landscape [print edition: A memorial to JFK fit to stand forever]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening)[1], archived from the original on 3 July 2015, page G8:
      This path, which consists of some 60,000 setts laid directly into the earth, is perhaps the single most noteworthy 'feature' of the design, lending the whole conception a feeling of unity and coherence, enhancing the sense that one has been absorbed into both the place and the journey through it.
  6. (mining) A mine or set of mines on lease.
    • 1857, The Mining Magazine, page 128:
      [] let the dialler, with the same instrument he uses underground, run a north and south line on the surface, in any convenient part of the sett, marking the extremities by well-fixed points, []
  7. (mining) A collection of pumps in a mine.
    • 1898, The Mining Engineer, Great Britain: Institution of Mining Engineers, page 196:
      After a delay of about three months, the 24 inches sett of pumps was ready for work, and sinking was resumed with one sett of pumps 18 inches in diameter in No. 1 pit, and one sett 24 inches in diameter in No. 2 pit; []

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

sett

  1. Obsolete spelling of set (particularly as a simple past and past participle).

Anagrams

Faroese

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsɛʰtː/

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek ζῆτα (zêta).

Noun

sett n (genitive singular sets, plural sett)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter Z/z.
Declension
Declension of sett (n9)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative sett settið sett settini
accusative sett settið sett settini
dative setti settinum settum settunum
genitive sets setsins setta settanna
Synonyms

Etymology 2

From English set.

Noun

sett n (genitive singular sets, plural sett)

  1. (sports, tennis, badminton, volleyball) set
Declension
Declension of sett (n9)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative sett settið sett settini
accusative sett settið sett settini
dative setti settinum settum settunum
genitive sets setsins setta settanna

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

sett

  1. supine of seta (to set, to put)

Icelandic

Etymology 1

Noun

sett n (genitive singular setts, nominative plural sett)

  1. set (collection of objects)
Declension
Declension of sett (neuter)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative sett settið sett settin
accusative sett settið sett settin
dative setti settinu settum settunum
genitive setts settsins setta settanna
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Verb

sett

  1. supine of setja

Further reading

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From the verb sette, also from English set.

Noun

sett n (definite singular settet, indefinite plural sett, definite plural setta or settene)

  1. a set (most senses)

Derived terms

Verb

sett

  1. past participle of se
  2. imperative of sette

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

Noun

sett n (definite singular settet, indefinite plural sett, definite plural setta)

  1. a set (most senses)
Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

sett (definite singular and plural sette)

  1. past participle of setja and setje
  2. past participle of setta and sette

Verb

sett

  1. supine of setja and setje
  2. supine of setta and sette
  3. imperative of setta and sette
  4. (non-standard since 2012) present tense of setta and sette

Etymology 3

From Old Norse sénn, sét.

Verb

sett

  1. supine of sjå

References

Old English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sett/

Verb

sett

  1. third-person singular present of settan

Old Norse

Participle

sett

  1. inflection of settr:
    1. strong feminine nominative singular
    2. strong neuter nominative/accusative singular/plural

Verb

sett

  1. supine of setja

Swedish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɛtː/
  • Homophones: set, sätt

Verb

sett

  1. supine of se

Anagrams