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Webster 1913 Edition

State

State

(stāt)
,
Noun.
[OE.
stat
, OF.
estat
, F.
état
, fr. L.
status
a standing, position, fr.
stare
,
statum
, to stand. See
Stand
, and cf.
Estate
,
Status
.]
1.
The circumstances or condition of a being or thing at any given time.
State
is a term nearly synonymous with “mode,” but of a meaning more extensive, and is not exclusively limited to the mutable and contingent.
Sir W. Hamilton.
Declare the past and present
state
of things.
Dryden.
Keep the
state
of the question in your eye.
Boyle.
2.
Rank; condition; quality;
as, the
state
of honor
.
Thy honor,
state
, and seat is due to me.
Shakespeare
3.
Condition of prosperity or grandeur; wealthy or prosperous circumstances; social importance.
She instructed him how he should keep
state
, and yet with a modest sense of his misfortunes.
Bacon.
Can this imperious lord forget to reign,
Quit all his
state
, descend, and serve again?
Pope.
4.
Appearance of grandeur or dignity; pomp.
Where least of
state
there most of love is shown.
Dryden.
5.
A chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself.
[Obs.]
His high throne, . . . under
state

Of richest texture spread.
Milton.
When he went to court, he used to kick away the
state
, and sit down by his prince cheek by jowl.
Swift.
6.
Estate; possession.
[Obs.]
Daniel.
Your
state
, my lord, again is yours.
Massinger.
7.
A person of high rank.
[Obs.]
Latimer.
8.
Any body of men united by profession, or constituting a community of a particular character;
as, the civil and ecclesiastical
states
, or the lords spiritual and temporal and the commons, in Great Britain
. Cf.
Estate
,
Noun.
, 6.
9.
The principal persons in a government.
The bold design
Pleased highly those infernal
states
.
Milton.
10.
The bodies that constitute the legislature of a country;
as, the
States
-general of Holland
.
11.
A form of government which is not monarchial, as a republic.
[Obs.]
Well monarchies may own religion’s name,
But
states
are atheists in their very fame.
Dryden.
12.
A political body, or body politic; the whole body of people who are united under one government, whatever may be the form of the government; a nation.
Municipal law is a rule of conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a
state
.
Blackstone.
The Puritans in the reign of Mary, driven from their homes, sought an asylum in Geneva, where they found a
state
without a king, and a church without a bishop.
R. Choate.
13.
In the United States, one of the commonwealths, or bodies politic, the people of which make up the body of the nation, and which, under the national constitution, stand in certain specified relations with the national government, and are invested, as commonwealths, with full power in their several spheres over all matters not expressly inhibited.
☞ The term State, in its technical sense, is used in distinction from the federal system, i. e., the government of the United States.
14.
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.
[Obs.]
☞ When state is joined with another word, or used adjectively, it denotes public, or what belongs to the community or body politic, or to the government; also, what belongs to the States severally in the American Union; as, state affairs; state policy; State laws of Iowa.
Nascent state
.
(Chem.)
See under
Nascent
.
–
Secretary of state
.
See
Secretary
,
Noun.
, 3.
–
State barge
a royal barge, or a barge belonging to a government.
–
State bed
,
an elaborately carved or decorated bed.
–
State carriage
,
a highly decorated carriage for officials going in state, or taking part in public processions.
–
State paper
,
an official paper relating to the interests or government of a state.
Jay.
–
State prison
,
a public prison or penitentiary; – called also
State's prison
.
–
State prisoner
,
one in confinement, or under arrest, for a political offense.
–
State rights
, or
States' rights
,
the rights of the several independent States, as distinguished from the rights of the Federal government. It has been a question as to what rights have been vested in the general government.
[U.S.]
–
State's evidence
.
See
Probator
, 2, and under
Evidence
.
–
State sword
,
a sword used on state occasions, being borne before a sovereign by an attendant of high rank.
–
State trial
,
a trial of a person for a political offense.
–
States of the Church
.
See under
Ecclesiastical
.
Syn. –
State
,
Situation
,
Condition
.
State is the generic term, and denotes in general the mode in which a thing stands or exists. The situation of a thing is its state in reference to external objects and influences; its condition is its internal state, or what it is in itself considered. Our situation is good or bad as outward things bear favorably or unfavorably upon us; our condition is good or bad according to the state we are actually in as respects our persons, families, property, and other things which comprise our sources of enjoyment.
I do not, brother,
Infer as if I thought my sister's
state

Secure without all doubt or controversy.
Milton.
We hoped to enjoy with ease what, in our
situation
, might be called the luxuries of life.
Cook.
And, O, what man's
condition
can be worse
Than his whom plenty starves and blessings curse?
Cowley.

State

(stāt)
,
Adj.
1.
Stately.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
2.
Belonging to the state, or body politic; public.

State

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Stated
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Stating
.]
1.
To set; to settle; to establish.
[R.]
I myself, though meanest
stated
,
And in court now almost hated.
Wither.
Who calls the council,
states
the certain day.
Pope.
2.
To express the particulars of; to set down in detail or in gross; to represent fully in words; to narrate; to recite;
as, to
state
the facts of a case, one's opinion, etc.
To state it
.
To assume state or dignity.
[Obs.]
“Rarely dressed up, and taught to state it.”
Beau. & Fl.

State

,
Noun.
A statement; also, a document containing a statement.
[R.]
Sir W. Scott.

Webster 1828 Edition

State

STATE

,
Noun.
[L., to stand, to be fixed.]
1.
Condition; the circumstances of a being or thing at any given time. These circumstances may be internal, constitutional or peculiar to the being, or they may have relation to other beings. We say, the body is in a sound state, or it is in a weak state; or it has just recovered from a feeble state. The state of his health is good. The state of his mind is favorable for study. So we say, the state of public affairs calls for the exercise of talents and wisdom. In regard to foreign nations, our affairs are in a good state. So we say, single state, and married state.
Declare the past and present state of things.
2.
Modification of any thing.
Keep the state of the question in your eye.
3.
Crisis; stationary point; highth; point from which the next movement is regression.
Tumors have their several degrees and times, as beginning, augment, state and declination. [Not in use.]
4.
Estate; possession. [See Estate.]
5.
A political body, or body politic; the whole body of people united under one government, whatever may be the form of the government.
Municipal law is a rule of conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state.
More usually the word signifies a political body governed by representatives; a commonwealth; as the States of Greece; the States of America. In this sense, state has sometimes more immediate reference to the government, sometimes to the people or community. Thus when we say, the state has made provision for the paupers, the word has reference to the government or legislature; but when we say, the state is taxed to support paupers, the word refers to the whole people or community.
6.
A body of men united by profession, or constituting a community of a particular character; as the civil and ecclesiastical states in Great Britain. But these are sometimes distinguished by the terms church and state. In this case, state signifies the civil community or government only.
7.
Rank; condition; quality; as the state of honor.
8.
Pomp; appearance of greatness.
In state the monarchs marchd.
Where least of state, there most of love is shown.
9.
Dignity; grandeur.
She instructed him how he should keep state, yet with a modest sense of his misfortunes.
10.
A seat of dignity.
This chair shall be my state.
11.
A canopy; a covering of dignity.
His high throne, under state of richest texture spread-- [Unusual.]
12.
A person of high rank. [Not in use.]
13.
The principal persons in a government.
The bold design pleasd highly those infernal states.
14.
The bodies that constitute the legislature of a country; as the states general.
15.
Joined with another word, it denotes public, or what belongs to the community or body politic; as state affairs; state policy.

STATE

, v.t.
1.
To set; to settle. [See Stated.]
2.
To express the particulars of any thing verbally; to represent fully in words; to narrate; to recite. The witnesses stated all the circumstances of the transaction. They are enjoined to state all the particulars. It is the business of the advocate to state the whole case. Let the question be fairly stated.

Definition 2024

State

State

See also: state and státe

English

Noun

State ‎(plural States)

  1. A current governing polity.
  2. (often with definite article) The current governing polity under which the speaker lives.

Related terms

See also

Proper noun

State

  1. State University, as the shortened form of any public university name.

Anagrams

state

state

See also: State and státe

English

Noun

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.
      • 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
        It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […];  […]; or perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment.
    2. A political division of a federation retaining a notable degree of autonomy, as in the United States or Germany; (by extension, informal, US) any 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.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:
      I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.
    1. (physics) A complete description of a system, consisting of parameters that determine all properties of the system.
      • 1977, J. B. Sykes and John Stewart Bell, translating Lev Landau and Evgeny Lifshitz, Course of Theoretical Physics Vol. 3: Quantum Mechanics: Non-relativistic Theory, p.28:
        States in which the energy has definite values are called stationary states of a system; they are described by wave functions Ψn which are the eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian operator, i.e. which satisfy the equation ĤΨn = EnΨn, where En are the eigenvalues of the energy.
    2. (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.‎
    3. (computing) The set of all parameters relevant to a computation.
      The state here includes a set containing all names seen so far.‎
    4. (computing) The values of all parameters at some point in a computation.
      A debugger can show the state of a program at any breakpoint.‎
    5. (sciences) The physical property of matter as solid, liquid, gas or plasma.
    6. (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.
    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?)
  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

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

Adjective

state ‎(comparative more state, superlative most state)

  1. (obsolete) stately
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

Related terms

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: death · works · perhaps · #306: state · says · wife · hear

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Noun

state

  1. plural 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

Anagrams

Latin

Verb

stāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of stō

Participle

state

  1. vocative masculine singular of status

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /steɪt/
  • Rhymes: -eɪt

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