| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| status |
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| SYLLABICATION: | stat·us |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  st t  s, st ts |
| NOUN: | 1. Position relative to that of others; standing: Her status is that of a guest. 2. High standing; prestige: a position of status in the community. 3. Law The legal character or condition of a person or thing: the status of a minor. 4. A state of affairs; situation. See synonyms at state. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin. See st- in Appendix I. | | USAGE NOTE: | In a recent survey of the Usage Panel, 53 percent of the Panelists preferred the pronunciation (stts), 36 percent preferred (stts), and 11 percent said they use both pronunciations. The pronunciation (stts) is the older, more traditional pronunciation, and it remains the most common one in British English.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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