settings
English meaning: Settings
Definition
The time, place and circumstance in which something (such as a story or picture) is set; context; scenario.
Example
“The story has a beautiful rural setting in the mountains.”
Another example: “You can adjust the privacy settings in the app's main menu.”
Usage — When, Where & How
Plural noun (of 'setting') with two common senses: the adjustable options or controls of a device or program ('change the settings'), and the time and place of a story or event ('the novel's setting'); the technology sense is now extremely common.
Etymology & Origin
English — Origin & History
From the verb 'set' (Old English 'settan', to cause to sit, place) plus '-ing'; the device-options sense arose with modern electronics in the 20th century.
Related Words
Common Collocations
- change the settings
- default settings
- privacy settings
- factory settings
- rural setting
- sound settings
Word Forms
setting (sing.); settings (pl.)
Word Tools
Literary Heritage
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
/To thine own self be true/
“Be honest with yourself — and as naturally as night follows day, you will be unable to be false to others.”
“I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?”
/I'm nobody! Who are you?/
“I am nobody — and that quiet anonymity is more honest than the noise of public fame.”
Images
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Language information
- Language
- English
- English
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Indo-European
- Speakers
- 1.5B