English - Etymology

From Old French estat, from Latin status (“manner of standing, attitude, position, carriage, manner, dress, apparel; and other senses”), from stare (“to stand”).

English - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /steɪt/
• Rhymes: -eɪt

English - Noun

Wikipedia

state (plural states)

1. A polity.
   1. Any sovereign polity; a government.
      • 20C, Albert Einstein, as quoted by Virgil Henshaw in Albert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist (1949)

        Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.

   2. A political division of a federation retaining a degree of autonomy, for example one of the fifty United States. See also Province.
   3. (obsolete) A form of government other than a monarchy.
      • John Dryden (1631-1700)

        Well monarchies may own religion's name, / But states are atheists in their very fame.

   4. (anthropology) A society larger than a tribe. A society large enough to form a state in the sense of a government.
2. A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time.

   a state of being;   a state of emergency

   • John Dryden (1631-1700)

     Declare the past and present state of things.

   1. (computing) The stable condition of a processor during a particular clock cycle.

      In the fetch state, the address of the next instruction is placed on the address bus.

   2. (computing) The set of all parameters relevant to a computation.

      The state here includes a set containing all names seen so far.

   3. (computing) The values of all parameters at some point in a computation.

      A debugger can show the state of a program at any breakpoint.

   4. (sciences) The physical property of matter as solid, liquid, gas or plasma.
   5. (obsolete) Highest and stationary condition, as that of maturity between growth and decline, or as that of crisis between the increase and the abating of a disease; height; acme.
3. High social standing or circumstance.
   1. Pomp, ceremony, or dignity.

      The President's body will lie in state at the Capitol.

   2. Rank; condition; quality.
      • William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

        Thy honour, state, and seat is due to me.

   3. Condition of prosperity or grandeur; wealthy or prosperous circumstances; social importance.
      • Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

        She instructed him how he should keep state, and yet with a modest sense of his misfortunes.

      • Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

        Can this imperious lord forget to reign, / Quit all his state, descend, and serve again?

   4. A chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself.
      • John Milton (1608-1674)

        His high throne, […] under state / Of richest texture spread.

      • Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)

        When he went to court, he used to kick away the state, and sit down by his prince cheek by jowl.

   5. (obsolete) A great person, a dignitary; a lord or prince.
      • 1644, John Milton, Aeropagitica:

        They who to States and Governours of the Commonwealth direct their Speech […] ; I suppose them as at the beginning of no meane endeavour, not a little alter'd and mov'd inwardly in their mindes […] .

   6. (obsolete) Estate, possession.

      (Can we find and add a quotation of Daniel to this entry?)

      • Philip Massinger (1583-1640)

        Your state, my lord, again is yours.

4. (mathematics, stochastic processes) An element of the range of the random variables that define a random process.

Derived terms

Look at pages starting with state.

Translations

See also

• department
• province

English - Verb

state (third-person singular simple present states, present participle stating, simple past and past participle stated)

1. (transitive) To declare to be a fact.

   He stated that he was willing to help.

   • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterII:

     Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.

2. (transitive) To make known.

   State your intentions.

Usage notes

State is stronger or more definitive than say. It is used to communicate an absence of reasonable doubt and to emphasize the factual or truthful nature of the communication.

Synonyms

• See Wikisaurus:communicate

Translations

English - Adjective

state (comparative more state, superlative most state)

1. (obsolete) stately

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

English - Related Terms

• estate
• statistics
• status
• State

English - External Links

• state in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• state in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

English - Anagrams

• taste
• teats
• testa

Afrikaans - Noun

state

1. plural form of staat

Italian - Verb

state

1. second-person plural indicative present tense of stare
2. second-person plural imperative of stare
3. feminine plural of stato

Italian - Anagrams

• setta, testa

Latin - Verb

stāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of stō

Latin - Participle

state

1. vocative masculine singular of status

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