Settlings

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Composed of the residues or particles that settle at the bottom of a liquid after it has been disturbed or allowed to stand
2. Representing the solid matter that has separated from a fluid through the process of settling
3. Referring to the accumulated sediment or dregs left behind after a mixture has settled or been poured out

Etymology: "Settlings" is the plural of "settling," a noun for the sediment left behind when something has been allowed to stand and its heavier particles sink to the bottom. The plural form is the one that matters here, since the sediment is typically found as a collection of deposits rather than a single mass. The noun "settling" is built from the verb "settle" with the suffix "-ing," which in this use turns an action into a thing: what results from settling. Settling itself traces back to the verb "settle," meaning to sink or come to rest, which is the same idea that gives us the sense of a dispute being resolved or a person establishing a home. The sinking of solids through a liquid is the most literal form of that movement, and the word for the residue that remains is simply the thing that has settled.

Synonyms: sediments, deposits, residues, precipitates, particles