set [OE] Old English settan is from a Germanic source and is related to Dutch zetten, German setzen, and English sit [OE]. Confusion between set and sit began as early as the 14th century from similarity of certain past forms and certain senses. Meanings branch into: ‘cause to sit’ (set them upon the camel’s back); ‘sink’ (the sun has set); ‘put in a definite place’ (sleeves set into the shirt); ‘appoint, establish’ (set a boundary); ‘arrange, adjust’ (set a snare); ‘place mentally’ (set at naught); ‘come into a settled condition’ (her face set in a sulky stare); and ‘cause to take a certain direction’ (set our course at north north-east). The word for a group or collection is partly from Latin secta ‘*sect’, and partly from set ‘fix, place.’