setja

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse setja, from Proto-Germanic *satjaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛːtja/

  Rhymes: -ɛːtja

• (colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛːta/

Verb

setja (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative setti, supine sett)

1. (transitive, governs the accusative) to put, to place something somewhere

   Nennirðu að setja forritunarbókina mína á borðið?

   Could you put my programming book on the table?

   Guð er eins og draumafangari sem maður setur í gluggann.

   God is like a dreamcatcher that you put in the window.

2. (ditransitive, governs the accusative, dative) to fix (something for somebody), to determine (something regarding somebody), to decide (something for somebody)

   Hann setti sér það markmið að grennast.

   He was determined to lose weight.

   Við settum okkur að leysa öll dæmin fyrir prófið.

   We decided to solve all the problems before the examination.

3. (transitive, governs the accusative, formal) to formally open

   Að setja fund.

   To open a meeting.

4. (ditransitive, governs the accusative, dative) (for someone) to suppose (something)
5. (transitive, governs the accusative) to typeset
6. (impersonal) used in set phrases

   Eigum við ekki að sjá hvað setur?

   How about we see what happens?

   Mig setti hljóða eftir símtalið.

   I couldn't speak after the phone call.

   Það sótti að mér kulda.

   I felt cold.

   Þegar hann minntist látinnar konu sinnar setti að honum ákafan grát.

   He began crying immensely upon remembering his deceased wife.

Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Synonyms

• (put): láta
• (determine): fastsetja
• (formally open): opna formlega
• (suppose): gera ráð fyrir
• (typeset): prentsetja

Derived terms

Terms derived from the verb setja

• bólusetja (“to vaccinate”)
• setja eitthvað á sig (“to put something on oneself”)
• setja fund (“to open a meeting”)
• setja lög (“to pass laws, to pass a law”)
• setja einhverjum úrslitakosti (“to give somebody an ultimatum”)
• setjast (“to sit down”)
• setjast upp (to sit up)
• setjast að einhvers staðar (to settle down somewhere)
• setjast upp hjá einhverjum (to install oneself in somebody's house)
• sestur (past participle of middle voice, to have sitten down, to have pulled up a chair)
• settur (past participle)
• vel settur (well off)
• illa settur (badly off)
• setja á stofn (to found, to establish)
• setja á sig (to memorize)
• setja á höfuðið (to go bankrupt)
• setja á laggirnar (to start off)
• setja að veði (to stake something; confer leggja að veði)
• setja að einhverjum (somebody feels chilly)
• setja að einhverjum grát (somebody starts crying)
• setja af (to dismiss)
• setja fram bát (to launch a boat)
• setja sig úr færi setja sig úr færi með eitthvað (to lose an opportunity)
• setja eitthvað fyrir sig (to view something as an obstacle, to have scruples about something)
• setja einhverjum fyrir eitthvað (to assign something to somebody, to assign a task to somebody)
• setja einhverjum stólinn fyrir dyrnar (to put an obstacle in somebody's path)
• setja hjá (to pass over)
• setja í embætti (to appoint temporarily to a post)
• setja í fisk (to get a fish on the hook)
• setja inn (to insert)
• setja einhvern inn (to put somebody in jail, to imprison)
• setja saman (to put together, to assemble)
• setja saman bók (to write a book)
• setja upp verð (to demand a price)
• setja upp þóknun (to charge a fee)
• setja upp húfu (to put on a cap)
• setja upp hátíðarsvip (to look self-important, to put on airs)
• setja upp leikrit (to put on a play, to produce a play)
• setja út á (to find fault with, to critcize)
• setja sig út til að gera eitthvað (to seize every opportunity to do something)
• setja einhvern yfir eitthvað (to put somebody in charge of something)
• setja hlið við hlið (to juxtapose, to place side by side)
• setja upp hundshaus

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• setje
• setta, sette

Etymology

From Old Norse setja, from Proto-Germanic *satjaną. Akin to English set.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²sɛːça/, /²sɛçːa/

Verb

setja (present tense set, past tense sette, past participle sett, passive infinitive setjast, present participle setjande, imperative set)

1. to put, position

   Eg set stolen her. ― I'll put the chair here.

Derived terms

• omsetja
• setja etter

References

• “setja” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Norse

Etymology

Causative of sitja. From Proto-Norse ᛊᚨᛏᛁᛞᛟ (satido) (1st singular past indicative), Proto-Germanic *satjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sodéyeti.

Verb

setja

1. (transitive) to seat, set, place, put
2. (transitive, with accusative) to drive

   hann setti øxina í hǫfuð honum

   he drove the axe into his (not his own) skull

3. (transitive, with accusative) to make, establish

   Þeir vildu setja grið í milli konungs ok bonda

   they wanted to make peace between the king and the peasants

4. (transitive, with dative) to order, prescribe
5. (transitive, with dative) to settle
6. (intransitive) to set off

Conjugation

Note that sett- in the past indicative is a specifically West Norse (Icelandic, Norwegian Nynorsk and Faroese) innovation; East Norse (Swedish, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål) retains original satt-.

Conjugation of setja — active (weak class 1)

infinitive	setja
present participle	setjandi
past participle	settr
indicative	present	past
1st-person singular	set	setta
2nd-person singular	setr	settir
3rd-person singular	setr	setti
1st-person plural	setjum	settum
2nd-person plural	setið	settuð
3rd-person plural	setja	settu
subjunctive	present	past
1st-person singular	setja	setta
2nd-person singular	setir	settir
3rd-person singular	seti	setti
1st-person plural	setim	settim
2nd-person plural	setið	settið
3rd-person plural	seti	setti
imperative	present
2nd-person singular	set
1st-person plural	setjum
2nd-person plural	setið

Conjugation of setja — mediopassive (weak class 1)

infinitive	setjask
present participle	setjandisk
past participle	sezk
indicative	present	past
1st-person singular	setjumk	settumk
2nd-person singular	sezk	settisk
3rd-person singular	sezk	settisk
1st-person plural	setjumsk	settumsk
2nd-person plural	setizk	settuzk
3rd-person plural	setjask	settusk
subjunctive	present	past
1st-person singular	setjumk	settumk
2nd-person singular	setisk	settisk
3rd-person singular	setisk	settisk
1st-person plural	setimsk	settimsk
2nd-person plural	setizk	settizk
3rd-person plural	setisk	settisk
imperative	present
2nd-person singular	sezk
1st-person plural	setjumsk
2nd-person plural	setizk

Descendants

• Icelandic: setja
• Faroese: seta
• Norn: seta
• Norwegian Nynorsk: setja, setta
• Elfdalian: settja, setta
• Old Swedish: sætia, sættia
  • Swedish: sätta
• Old Danish: sætiæ, sættæ
  • Danish: sætte
    • Norwegian Bokmål: sette
  • Scanian: sæda
• Gutnish: sätte

References

• “setja”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press