German

Noun

Situation f ‎(genitive Situation, plural Situationen)

1. situation, circumstances
2. setting (background, atmosphere)

English

Alternative forms

• scituation (hyper‐correct, obsolete)

Noun

situation ‎(plural situations)

1. The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.

   The Botanical Gardens are in a delightful situation on the river bank.‎

   • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows:

     ...he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive.

2. The place in which something is situated; a location.
   • 1833, Thomas Hibbert and Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory, page 142:

     [Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.

3. Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
4. The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs.

   The United States is in an awkward situation with debt default looming.‎

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:

     Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.

5. (Britain) A position of employment; a post.
   • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Penguin 2006, page 78:

     When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.

   • 1946, Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, Choo Choo Ch'Boogie:

     You take a morning paper from the top of the stack

     And read the situations from the front to the back

     The only job that's open need a man with a knack

     So put it right back in the rack Jack.

6. A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.

   Boss, we've got a situation here...

Synonyms

• (combination of circumstances): condition, set up

Related terms

• site
• situate
• situated
• situationism

Translations

See also

• situation comedy, sitcom

References

• Source for the definitions:
  • Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. (accessed: March 10, 2007).
• situation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• situation in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• situation at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• titanious

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /si.tɥa.sjɔ̃/

Noun

situation f ‎(plural situations)

1. situation (all meanings)

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪtvaˈɧuːn/, /sɪtɵaˈɧuːn/

Noun

situation c

1. a situation

Declension

Related terms

• nödsituation
• situationskomik

Synonyms

• läge