sett

English

WOTD – 30 July 2016

Alternative forms

Setts (sense 5) in the path leading to the John F. Kennedy Memorial at Runnymede in Surrey, England, United Kingdom

• set

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.
6. 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.

Derived terms

• pleating to the sett

Translations

home of a badger

• Dutch: dassenburcht m or f
• Finnish: luolasto
• French: terrier de blaireau m
• Galician: teixugueira f, tanxugueira f
• German: Dachsbau m
• Irish: brocach f
• Norwegian: grevlinghi n
• Slovene: jazbina f
• Swedish: gryt (sv) n, grävlingsgryt (sv) n
• Welsh: daear (cy) f

pattern of a Scottish tartan

• French: plaid (fr) m

paving stone

• Bulgarian: паве (bg) n (pave)
• Catalan: llambordí m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鋪路石／铺路石 (pūlù shí)

• Danish: brosten (da) c
• Dutch: kasseisteen
• Esperanto: pavimero
• Finnish: nupukivi (fi)
• French: pavé (fr) m
• Georgian: მოსაპირკეთებელი ქვა (mosaṗirḳetebeli kva)
• German: Pflasterstein (de)
• Hungarian: jardaburkolási
• Italian: sampietrino (it) m
• Japanese: 敷石 (しきいし, shikiishi)
• Korean: 포석 (ko) (Poseok)
• Portuguese: paralelepípedo (pt)
• Romanian: piatră cubică f
• Russian: брусча́тка (ru) f (brusčátka)
• Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: adoquín (es) m
• Swedish: gatsten (sv)

Verb

sett

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

Anagrams

• ETTs, Etts, TEST, TETS, TETs, Test, Tets, stet, test, tets

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.

Declension

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

• setta

Etymology 2

From English set.

Noun

sett n (genitive singular sets, plural sett)

1. (sports, tennis, badminton, volleyball) set

Declension

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

Verb

sett

1. supine of seta - set, put

Conjugation

Conjugation of seta (group v-24-2)
infinitive	seta
supine	sett
participle (a5 (a39))1	setandi	settur
	present	past
first singular	seti	setti
second singular	setur/ setir	setti
third singular	setur/ setir	setti
plural	seta	settu
	imperative
singular	set!
plural	setið!
1Only the past participle being declined.

Icelandic

Noun

sett n (genitive singular setts, nominative plural sett)

1. set (collection of objects)

Declension

declension of sett

n-s	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

• gamla settið (“one's parents”)
• stafasett (“character set”)

Verb

sett

1. supine of setja

Further reading

• “sett” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)

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

• togsett

Verb

sett

1. past participle of se
2. imperative of sette

References

• “sett” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• (form of sjå): sjitt (dialectal, Trøndelag)

Etymology 1

Noun

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

1. a set (most senses)

Derived terms

• togsett

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

• “sett” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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

• test