establishment

  1. Noun.  The act of establishing; a ratifying or ordaining; settlement; confirmation.
  2. Noun.  The state of being established, founded, etc.; fixed state.
  3. Noun.  That which is established; as a form of government, a permanent organization, business or force, or the place where one is permanently fixed for residence.
  4. Noun.  (slang) '''The establishment''': the ruling class or authority group in a society; especially, an entrenched authority dedicated to preserving the status quo. Sometimes capitalized: the Establishment.

This is an unmodified, but possibly outdated, definition from Wiktionary and used here under the Creative Commons license. Wiktionary is a great resource. If you like it too, please donate to Wikimedia.

This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.