establishment (establishments plural )
1 n-sing The establishment of an organization or system is the act of creating it or beginning it.
FORMAL usu N of n
(=creation)
His ideas influenced the establishment of National Portrait Galleries in London and Edinburgh.
2 n-count An establishment is a shop, business, or organization occupying a particular building or place.
FORMAL usu with supp
...a scientific research establishment., ...shops and other commercial establishments.
3 n-sing You refer to the people who have power and influence in the running of a country, society, or organization as the establishment.
usu the N in sing
Shopkeepers would once have been pillars of the Tory establishment...