establishment

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act of establishing.
• noun The condition or fact of being established.
• noun Something established, as.
• noun An arranged order or system, especially a legal code.
• noun A permanent civil, political, or military organization.
• noun An established church.
• noun A place of residence or business with its possessions and staff.
• noun A public or private institution, such as a hospital or school.
• noun An established social order, as.
• noun A group of people holding most of the power and influence in a government or society. Often used with the.
• noun A controlling group in a given field of activity. Often used with the.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of establishing, ordaining, confirming, setting up, or placing on a firm basis or sure footing; the act of settling or fixing permanently, or of proving, substantiating, or making good: as, the establishment of a factory; the establishment of a claim.
• noun A fixed or settled condition; secured or certain permanence; fixity or certainty.
• noun Fixed or settled order of things; constituted order or system, as of government; organization.
• noun Fixed or stated allowance for subsistence; income; salary.
• noun That which has been established or set up for any purpose.
• noun The authoritative recognition by a state of a church, or branch of a church, as the national church; the legal position of such a church in relation to the state; hence, also, the religious body thus recognized by the state, and maintained and more or less supported as the state church: especially used of the Church of England and the Church of Scotland. See established church, under church.
• noun The quota or number of men in an army, regiment, etc.: as, a peace establishment.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of establishing; a ratifying or ordaining; settlement; confirmation.
• noun The state of being established, founded, and the like; fixed state.
• noun That which is established
• noun A form of government, civil or ecclesiastical; especially, a system of religion maintained by the civil power.
• noun A permanent civil, military, or commercial, force or organization.
• noun The place in which one is permanently fixed for residence or business; residence, including grounds, furniture, equipage, etc.; with which one is fitted out; also, any office or place of business, with its fixtures; that which serves for the carrying on of a business
• noun (Hydrography) a datum on which the tides are computed at the given port, obtained by observation, viz., the interval between the moon's passage over the meridian and the time of high water at the port, on the days of new and full moon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The act of establishing; a ratifying or ordaining; settlement; confirmation.
• noun The state of being established, founded, etc.; fixed state.
• noun That which is established; as a form of government, a permanent organization, business or force, or the place where one is permanently fixed for residence.
• noun slang The establishment: the ruling class or authority group in a society; especially, an entrenched authority dedicated to preserving the status quo. Sometimes capitalized: the Establishment.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun an organization founded and united for a specific purpose
• noun the act of forming or establishing something
• noun the cognitive process of establishing a valid proof
• noun a public or private structure (business or governmental or educational) including buildings and equipment for business or residence
• noun the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something
• noun (ecology) the process by which a plant or animal becomes established in a new habitat
• noun any large organization