state

art at start

[[t]steɪt[/t]] n. adj. v. stat•ed, stat•ing

1) the condition of a person or thing, as with respect to circumstances or attributes:

the state of one's health[/ex]

2) the condition of matter with respect to structure, form, phase, or the like:

water in a gaseous state[/ex]

3) status, rank, or position in life; station

4) the formal or elaborate style befitting a person of wealth and high rank:

to travel in state[/ex]

5) a particular condition of mind or feeling:

an excited state[/ex]

6) an abnormally tense, nervous, or perturbed condition:

in a state over losing one's job[/ex]

7) gov a politically unified people occupying a definite territory; nation

8) gov the territory or authority of a state

9) gov (sometimes cap.) any of the bodies politic or political units that together make up a federal union, as in the United States of America

10) gov the body politic as organized for civil rule and government:

separation of church and state[/ex]

11) gov the sphere of the highest civil authority and administration:

affairs of state[/ex]

12) inf geg the States, the United States (usu. used outside its borders)

13) gov of or pertaining to the central civil government or authority

14) gov of, maintained by, or under the authority of a unit of a federal union: a state highway

15) characterized by, attended with, or involving ceremony:

a state dinner[/ex]

16) used on or reserved for occasions of ceremony

17) to declare definitely or specifically

18) to set forth formally in speech or writing

19) to set forth in proper or definite form:

to state a problem[/ex]

20) to say

21) to fix or settle, as by authority

•

- lie in state

Etymology: 1175–1225; ME stat (n.), partly aph. var. of estat estate, partly < L status condition (see status); in defs. 7–11< L status (rērum) state (of things) or status (reī pūblicae) state (of the republic) stat′a•ble, state′a•ble, adj.