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: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)