state

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the way something is with respect to its main attributes

   the current state of knowledge

2. 2
   noun

   a politically organized body of people under a single government

   the state has elected a new president

3. 3
   noun

   the group of people comprising the government of a sovereign state

   the state has lowered its income tax

4. 4
   noun

   the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation

   Our state is in the deep south.

5. 5
   noun

   a state of depression or agitation

   They were in such a state that you just could not reason with them.

6. 6
   noun

   (chemistry) the three traditional states of matter are solids (fixed shape and volume) and liquids (fixed volume and shaped by the container) and gases (filling the container)

   the solid state of water is called ice

7. 7
   noun

   A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time.

   a state of being

8. 8
   noun

   High social standing or circumstance.

   in state

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Italic *status Latin statuslbor. Old French estatbor. Middle English stat English state From Middle English stat (as a noun); adopted c. 1200 from both Old French estat and Latin stātus (“manner of standing, attitude, position, carriage, manner, dress, apparel; and other senses”), from stāre (“to stand”). Doublet of estate and status. The sense of "polity" develops in the 14th century. Compare French être, Greek στέω (stéo), Italian stare, Portuguese estar, Romanian sta, and Spanish estar. The verb is first attested around the beginning of the 1…