stablish, v. Now arch.
(ˈstæblɪʃ)
Forms: 3–5 stablis, 4 stablys, stablisce, 4–5 stablisse, 4, 6 stablische, 4–6 stablisshe, 5 stablice, -esshe, -ych, -ysh, 5–6 stablysche, -ysshe, 6 stablyshe, -ishe, (stablyszshe), 8–9 'stablish, 4– stablish; also pa. tense and pa. pple. 3–4 stablist, 4 stablyste (Sc. stabelaste), 4, 6 stabliste.
[Variant of establish v.]
= establish v. in various senses.
From the 16th c there seems to have been a tendency to confine the use of the form stablish to those uses in which the relation of meaning to stable adj. is apparent, i.e. where the notion is rather ‘to strengthen or support (something existing)’ than ‘to found or set up’. The modern currency of the word is purely literary, and reminiscent of the Bible or Prayer Book.
1. trans. To place or set (a material thing) firmly in position; to station (a person) in a place. Obs. exc. in figurative context.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21288 Tuin axils [of an allegorical ‘wain’] er tuin laghs, i-wiss,..þe carter self is iesus crist, His bodi es yock he has stablist. a 1325 Prose Ps. xxx[i]. 10 Ne þou ne shettest me nouȝt in þe hondes of þyn enemy; þou stablisced my fete in large stede. c 1450 Merlin iii. 59 Ye shall stablisshe the thirde table in the name of the trinite. c 1500 Melusine i. 17 There the lady Pressyne stablysshed a stronge geaunt to the sauegarde of the tresoure. 1650 Sc. Psalms xciii. 5 The world is also stablished, that it can not depart. 1845 Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 198 Heaven's eternal base, Whereon God's throne is stablished. |
2. To set (a person, etc.) permanently in an office, dignity, or condition.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xii. (Mathias) 318 Spedful thinge vare & gud, þat we stablyste ane in þe place, þe quhyle to supple of Iudas. 1439 Charters, etc. Edin. (1871) 64 We..be thir present lettres makis, stablissis, and ordanis..schir Robert Logane..oure baileye off fee. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iii. xv. 118 The kyng stablysshed all his knyghtes and gaf them that were of londes not ryche he gaf them londes. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour h j b, God chose and stablysshed [c 1450 lxxxvii. 111 ordeyned] hym [Moses] mayster and gouournour ouer alle his people. 1738 Wesley Ps. cxxxii. iv, I will thy faithful seed increase, And 'stablish them on David's Throne. 1805–6 Cary Dante, Inf. ii. 24 Both which..were ordain'd And stablish'd for the holy place, where sits Who to great Peter's sacred chair succeeds. |
† 3. To ordain permanently (a law, rule, etc.)
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2137 That same prince..Hath stablissed in this wrecched world adoun Certeyne dayes and duracioun [etc.]. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. v. (Skeat) 58 Wiste thou not wel that al the lawe of kynde is my lawe, and by god ordayned and stablisshed to dure by kynde resoun? c 1417 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2232 By sotilte Brekynge bondes þat stablisshed were Mankynde to profite. a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 18 Hardeknoute was the furst that began iiii meales stablyshed in oon day. 1530 Palsgr. 731/2, I stablysshe, I make by acte, je actifie. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. Pref. A v b, This bound they forgot, when they stablished..so many maisterly determinations without any woord of God. 1615 Sylvester Job Triumphant iii. 329 For the raine hee stablisht a Decree. |
† 4. To set up or found securely (a government, a condition of things). Obs.
| 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. i. 10 And stablish quietnesse on euery side. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus iii. 1 We haue stablished the regal power ouer all persons Ecclesiastical as well as others. 1855 Singleton Virgil II. 493 In suchlike words between them stablished they [firmabant] The leagues amid the nobles' view. |
† 5. To bring into settled order (a country, affairs, etc.). Obs.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 303 He wex so wiss and avise, That his land first weill stablist he. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. vii. 44 Whanne..the kyng had stablisshed alle the countreyes aboute london. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 221 He now laboured to stablish the affaires. |
6. To render indubitable, support by proof or testimony.
| a 1325 MS. Rawl. B. 520 lf. 57 Ȝif he stablisseth him to be lasse he ne sal noȝt ansuerien of ani tenement for acheson of possession or of prosprete are he be of plener age. 1530 Palsgr. 731/2 What so ever he saye, I wyll stablysche it. 1550 Cranmer Def. Bath. Doctr. title-p., A confutation of sundry errors concernyng the same, grounded and stablished upon Goddes holy woorde. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. 50 That whatsoeuer they shal determine on the one side or the other, maye be stablished and certayne to our mindes. 1885–94 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche July x, It is true That much hath hapt to stablish what ye teach. |
7. To make secure, strengthen, reinforce.
| 1382 Wyclif Rom. iii. 31 Therefore distrye we the lawe by the feith? Fer be it; but we stablischen [Vulg. statuimus] the lawe. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. i. (1811) 11 When Brute..sawe that he was stablysshed in his Realme quyetly, he..commaundyd [etc.]. 1586 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. iv. iv. (ad fin.), When holy Fates Shall stablish me in strong Egyptia. 1600 Fairfax Tasso x. liii, My weake estate to stablish come thou art. 1611 Bible 1 Chron. xviii. 3 As hee went to stablish his dominion. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 347 Remembring..his Cov'nant sworn To David, stablisht as the dayes of Heav'n. 1696 Tate & Brady Ps. xciii. 2 How surely stablisht is thy Throne! 1810 Southey Kehama xviii. vi, Over Earth and Heaven my reign Is stablish'd. 1869 M. Arnold Cult. & An. ii. 92 It is stablishing the State on behalf of whatever great changes are needed. |
8. To render stable in faith, virtue, etc.
| 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys, Christina 77 In þis [sc. faith] me stablych, lorde, I þe preye. 1535 Coverdale Ps. li. 12 O geue me the comforte of thy helpe agayne, and stablish me with thy fre sprete. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 662 For he himselfe, whether he were past all feare, or was not well stablished in his perfite minde,..boldely entred into Englande. 1611 Bible 1 Thess. iii. 13 To the end hee may stablish your hearts vnblameable in holinesse. 1738 Wesley Ps. li. xiii, Stablish, and keep my faithful Heart. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 343 He stablishes the strong, restores the weak. 1841 Emerson Ess. Ser. i. viii. (1876) 208 Let him go home much, and stablish himself in those courses he approves. 1862 Trench Poems, Justin Martyr 15, I thought to arm my soul, And stablish it in self control. |
Hence stablished ppl. a., † stablishing vbl. n.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 27151 Wit stablising of hali kirck. a 1470 Tiptoft Cæsar v. xiii. (1530) 16 Þ{supt} nyghtys were shorter there than they be in the stablysshed lande [in continente]. 1570 T. Norton tr. Nowell's Catech. 2 b, All these thinges serue..to the orderly stablishyng of the outward gouernance of the Chirch. 1655 G. Firmin (title) Stablishing against Shaking, or a Discovery of the Prince of Darknesse. 1709 Cobb Poems (ed. 2) 5 Whose bold Presumption dares transgress Thy stablish'd Articles of Peace, Or disobey thy Law? 1885 R. Bridges Nero iii. iv. 16/2 Thou..yet would'st dare..to thwart My stablished purpose? |