state
[ steyt ]
/ steɪt /
noun
adjective
verb (used with object), stat·ed, stat·ing.
Idioms for state
lie in state,
(of a corpse) to be exhibited publicly with honors before burial: The president's body lay in state for two days.
Origin of state
synonym study for state
1.
State,
condition,
situation,
status are terms for existing circumstances or surroundings.
State is the general word, often with no concrete implications or material relationships:
the present state of affairs.
Condition carries an implication of a relationship to causes and circumstances:
The conditions made flying impossible.
Situation suggests an arrangement of circumstances, related to one another and to the character of a person:
He was master of the situation.
Status carries official or legal implications; it suggests a complete picture of interrelated circumstances as having to do with rank, position, standing, a stage reached in progress, etc.:
the status of negotiations.
19. See
maintain.
historical usage of state
The history of the English noun
state is complicated. It derives from both Old French and Latin. The Old French noun is
estat, estate “general state or condition (material, bodily, moral, mental),” also the source of the English word
estate “landed property.”
Estat is a normal French development from Latin
status “a standing, stance, physical state or circumstances, (public) order.” Latin
status derives from the verb
stāre “to stand,” from the very widespread Proto-Indo-European root
stā- (and its many extensions) “to stand,” source of Greek
histánai (from prehistoric
sistánai with reduplication), Germanic (Old English)
standan (English
stand ), and Slavic (Polish)
stać.
The e in estat is called a prothetic e ( prothetikós means “prefixed” in Greek). The prothetic e appears in the Romance languages of France (French, Provençal), and the Iberian Peninsula (Castilian, Portuguese, Catalan), and in Logudorese (the most conservative dialect of the Sardinian language). For example, Latin schola “school” appears as école in French (from earlier escole ), escòla in Provençal, escuela in Castilian, escola in Portuguese and Catalan, and iscola in Logudorese. The prothetic e was never common in Italy except to avoid ungainly consonant clusters; thus Italian la scuola “the school” becomes per iscuola “for school.” Prothesis persists in modern Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan: “station” is estación, estação, and estació, respectively, but it is no longer productive in French (“station” is station ) or Italian ( stazione ). Prothesis has never been common in Romanian (“school” is şcoală ).
The e in estat is called a prothetic e ( prothetikós means “prefixed” in Greek). The prothetic e appears in the Romance languages of France (French, Provençal), and the Iberian Peninsula (Castilian, Portuguese, Catalan), and in Logudorese (the most conservative dialect of the Sardinian language). For example, Latin schola “school” appears as école in French (from earlier escole ), escòla in Provençal, escuela in Castilian, escola in Portuguese and Catalan, and iscola in Logudorese. The prothetic e was never common in Italy except to avoid ungainly consonant clusters; thus Italian la scuola “the school” becomes per iscuola “for school.” Prothesis persists in modern Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan: “station” is estación, estação, and estació, respectively, but it is no longer productive in French (“station” is station ) or Italian ( stazione ). Prothesis has never been common in Romanian (“school” is şcoală ).
OTHER WORDS FROM state
Words nearby state
stat,
stat.,
statampere,
statant,
statcoulomb,
state,
state aid,
state attorney,
state bank,
state bird,
state capitalism
Example sentences from the Web for states
British Dictionary definitions for states (1 of 2)
States
/ (steɪts) /
noun
the states (functioning as singular or plural) an informal name for the United States of America
British Dictionary definitions for states (2 of 2)
state
/ (steɪt) /
noun
adjective
verb (tr; may take a clause as object)
Derived forms of state
statable or stateable, adjective statehood, nounWord Origin for state
C13: from Old French
estat, from Latin
status a standing, from
stāre to stand
Medical definitions for states
state
[ stāt ]
n.
A condition or situation; status.
Idioms and Phrases with states
state