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who establishes himself in a new region or a colony; a colonist; a planter; as, the first settlers of New England.

One living in the back or outlying districts of a community. The English backsettlers of Leinster and Munster. Macaulay.

One who settles at a distance, or away, from others.

a "colored" mother. Also, and now commonly in Southern Africa, a native born of European settlers.

of those who in 1840-47 resisted the collection of rents claimed by the patroons from the settlers on certain manorial lands in the State of New York. -- An`ti*rent"ism, n.

A woodsman; a settler in the bush.

arly times noted for their pursuit of agriculture, and for living at peace with the white settlers. They are now one of the civilized tribes of the Indian Territory.

g claimed or demanded; that (as land) to which any one intends to establish a right; as a settler's claim; a miner's claim. [U.S. & Australia]

t to the jurisdiction of the parent state; as, the British colonies in America. The first settlers of New England were the best of Englishmen, well educated, devout Christians, and zealous lovers of liberty. There was never a colony formed of better materials. Ames.

horizing and regulating the sale of public lands, in parcels of 160 acres each, to actual settlers. [U.S.]

arts of Tennessee and the Carolinas. They are descendants of early intermixtures of white settlers with natives. In North Carolina the Croatan Indians, regarded as descended from Raleigh's lost colony of Croatan, formerly classed with negroes, are now legally recognized as distinct.

e population; death rate; as, a time of great, or low, mortality; the mortality among the settlers was alarming. Bill of mortality. See under Bill. -- Law of mortality, a mathematical relation between the numbers living at different ages, so that from a given large number of persons alive at one age, it can be compute…

East men; Danish settlers in Ireland, formerly so called. Lyttelton.

A settler; an inhabitant. "Peoplers of the peaceful glen." J. S. Blackie.

e shrub itself; -- called also Pinxter blomachee by the New York descendants of the Dutch settlers.

The right of an actual settler upon public lands (particularly those of the United States) to purchase a certain portion at a fixed price in preference to all other applicants. Abbott.

ing, or state of being peopled; act of planting, as a colony; colonization; occupation by settlers; as, the settlement of a new country.

That which finishes or ends a matter; a settler; a poser, as a heavy blow, a conclusive answer, and the like. [Slang, U.S.]

gally open to settlement in order to gain the prior claim that the law gives to the first settler when the land is opened to settlement; hence, any one who does a thing prematurely or anticipates another in acting in order to gain an unfair advantage.