settler

noun

set·​tler ˈse-tᵊl-ər 

ˈset-lər

1

: one that settles something

a settler of disputes

2

: someone who settles in a new region or colony

the first settlers of New England

Synonyms

• colonial
• colonist
• colonizer
• frontiersman
• homesteader
• pioneer

Examples of settler in a Sentence

settlers learning to live in peace with the natives

in 1889 Jane Addams, in an effort to provide Chicago's latest wave of settlers with much-needed services, founded the city's first settlement house

Recent Examples on the Web

The Nisenan, like all of California’s Native peoples, were decimated by the settlers’ campaigns of violence and cultural eradication. —Michelle Weber, Longreads, 4 Dec. 2024

Andrew Jackson, a firebrand advocate for farmers and western settlers, saw adherence to a gold standard as a way to avoid excessive government power. —Kevin Coldiron, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2024

The Mattaponi and Pamunkey tribes are remnants of the great Powhatan Confederacy that greeted the earliest English settlers. —Andrew Sharp, Outdoor Life, 27 Nov. 2024

Since Hamas’s brutal attacks on Israel on October 7 last year, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 250 others hostage, settler leaders in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have been pushing for the annexation of the whole West Bank. —Nic Robertson, CNN, 25 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing settler

• settler colonial
• settler colonialism
• settler-colonialist
• settler colony

Kids Definition

settler

noun

set·​tler ˈset-lər 

-ᵊl-ər

: a person who settles in a new region : colonist